Canada’s Massive Surface-Combatant Program To Get Underway This Summer

VICTORIA, British Columbia — The Canadian government will ask for bids as early as next month for the largest shipbuilding program in the country’s history, with the field of contenders for a new fleet of surface combatants expected to be dominated by European firms.

The project to build the Canadian Surface Combatant will see the selection of an existing warship design and combat system to reduce risk and speed up construction.

Germany, Italy may increase submarine fleets

The German and Italian Navies are looking to increase their submarine fleets again in light of evolving security challenges, senior officials said at the Subcon 2015 conference on submarine technology organised by ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems (TKMS) in Kiel.

Germany

An “arc of instability” now spans several continents, exacerbating maritime security challenges, and the Ukraine crisis has highlighted the need to still consider more traditional security challenges, noted Vice Admiral Andreas Krause, the head of the German Navy.

Is Germany Still in the Race for Australia’s Biggest Arms Deal of the Century?

Angela Merkel is aggressively pushing for Germany to win a contract to build 12 submarines.

Tomorrow’s issue of Der Spiegelfeatures a story on Angela Merkel’s efforts to secure one of the largest arms deals in Germany’s history. The article discusses the, according to a German government source, “outstanding” opportunity for the German arms industry should the German manufacturer ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems (TKMS) be awarded the contract to build up to twelve new submarines for the Australian Royal Navy.  TKMS’s offer, the 4,000 tons HDW class 216 is a submarine, specifically designed to meet Canberra’s needs, which is looking to replace its aging Collins-class submarine fleet.