Canada's glitch-prone, second-hand submarines will be with the navy until at least 2030, but defence planners will begin drawing up a replacement program within the next four years.
Subs running total at $1.75 billion The Chretien government bought the submarines from Britain in 1998 at a cost of $750 million, but since then National Defence has pumped over $1 billion into repairing and converting them to Canadian use.
Just want to point out that the unit cost for a zero mile Type 214 from Germany is somewhere in the range of 330 million to 450 million dollars per sub. Costs for a Type 212 are likely similar.
We could have bought four brand new German SSK for what we have dumped into these second hand rust buckets so far.
July 2/09: ThyssenKrupp Marine receives a EUR 2.5 billion contract with Greece’s rival Turkey for 6 U-214 submarines, supplemented with Air-Independent Propulsion technology. They will be built at the military-owned Golcuk Shipyard near Izmit, using pre-built sections and equipment supplied by HDW, as well as Turkish electronics and items. Delivery is expected in 2015. Read DID’s “Turkey Subs” for more.
July 2/09: ThyssenKrupp Marine receives a EUR 2.5 billion contract with Greece’s rival Turkey for 6 U-214 submarines, supplemented with Air-Independent Propulsion technology. They will be built at the military-owned Golcuk Shipyard near Izmit, using pre-built sections and equipment supplied by HDW, as well as Turkish electronics and items. Delivery is expected in 2015. Read DID’s “Turkey Subs” for more.
2,500,000,000.00 EUR = 3,339,248,541.17 CAD
Or
556 541 424
Taking your numbers as gospel for the price Canada would pay (Portugal got theirs for less than $500 million USD http://www.janes.com/products/janes/def ... 1065927684 ), we could still have bought three zero mile Type 212/214 subs for same or less than what we spent on four hand me downs which still do not function properly ten years later.
July 2/09: ThyssenKrupp Marine receives a EUR 2.5 billion contract with Greece’s rival Turkey for 6 U-214 submarines, supplemented with Air-Independent Propulsion technology. They will be built at the military-owned Golcuk Shipyard near Izmit, using pre-built sections and equipment supplied by HDW, as well as Turkish electronics and items. Delivery is expected in 2015. Read DID’s “Turkey Subs” for more.
2,500,000,000.00 EUR = 3,339,248,541.17 CAD
Or
556 541 424
Taking your numbers as gospel for the price Canada would pay (Portugal got theirs for less than $500 million USD http://www.janes.com/products/janes/def ... 1065927684 ), we could still have bought three zero mile Type 212/214 subs for same or less than what we spent on four hand me downs which still do not function properly ten years later.
Three new subs that work versus four that don't?
The choice is obvious.
At the time, the deal seemed like a way to keep a vital capability when there was no funding for it. It has turned into a colossal boondoggle, but based on the experts opinions at the time (DND and RN), the costs were never expected to be this high.
A similar argument could be made for Canada not spending 10s of billions of dollars maintaining thousands of troops in Germany for more than four decades during the Cold War. That war never happened, and it is highly unlikely that the USSR was going to be deterred by our relatively small commitment in Europe, so we could have just kept your troops here in Canada and saved billions.
Taking your numbers as gospel for the price Canada would pay (Portugal got theirs for less than $500 million USD http://www.janes.com/products/janes/def ... 1065927684 ), we could still have bought three zero mile Type 212/214 subs for same or less than what we spent on four hand me downs which still do not function properly ten years later.
Three new subs that work versus four that don't?
The choice is obvious.
At the time, the deal seemed like a way to keep a vital capability when there was no funding for it. It has turned into a colossal boondoggle, but based on the experts opinions at the time (DND and RN), the costs were never expected to be this high.
A similar argument could be made for Canada not spending 10s of billions of dollars maintaining thousands of troops in Germany for more than four decades during the Cold War. That war never happened, and it is highly unlikely that the USSR was going to be deterred by our relatively small commitment in Europe, so we could have just kept your troops here in Canada and saved billions.
Hindsight is always 20/20.
It was a good deal at the time. Frankly, in the froth to blame the UK, who's at fault when you buy a used car? The car lot that doesn't tell you everything or the buyer who doesn't take the vehicle to an independent mechanic for a thorough check up?
Canada shit the bed on this one, no question. All the problems we've encountered with these (at least those not caused ourselves or by accident) suggest we did not kick the tires very hard. Shame on us. Now we have to suck it up.
I still think you folks should buy a couple of our mothballed Ohio class and convert them to missile and torpedo attack subs. Canada with four of these behemoths would make even Mr. Putin nervous.
You also have to take into account buying in bulk and the shipyard costs. And even then you are still looking at the earliest 6 years to make the subs.
We were given a better rate and UK Gurkha engineers also upgraded our bases in exchange for UK troops being able to use our land for training. Something Germany would have no use for but our UK ally did.
So for almost the same amount of time we got three times the amount of subs. Germany would only offer 1 sub for what we bought the 3 UK diesel's and we got renovations to boot. Either way we still would have been behind because we have badly neglected shipyards.
Shouldn't that read "Will be in drydock until 2030"?
You beat me to it!
The Chretien government bought the submarines from Britain in 1998 at a cost of $750 million, but since then National Defence has pumped over $1 billion into repairing and converting them to Canadian use.
Just want to point out that the unit cost for a zero mile Type 214 from Germany is somewhere in the range of 330 million to 450 million dollars per sub. Costs for a Type 212 are likely similar.
We could have bought four brand new German SSK for what we have dumped into these second hand rust buckets so far.
Let that sink in.
2,500,000,000.00 EUR = 3,339,248,541.17 CAD
Or
556 541 424
Not according to the Greeks
2,500,000,000.00 EUR = 3,339,248,541.17 CAD
Or
556 541 424
Taking your numbers as gospel for the price Canada would pay (Portugal got theirs for less than $500 million USD http://www.janes.com/products/janes/def ... 1065927684 ), we could still have bought three zero mile Type 212/214 subs for same or less than what we spent on four hand me downs which still do not function properly ten years later.
Three new subs that work versus four that don't?
The choice is obvious.
Not according to the Greeks
2,500,000,000.00 EUR = 3,339,248,541.17 CAD
Or
556 541 424
Taking your numbers as gospel for the price Canada would pay (Portugal got theirs for less than $500 million USD http://www.janes.com/products/janes/def ... 1065927684 ), we could still have bought three zero mile Type 212/214 subs for same or less than what we spent on four hand me downs which still do not function properly ten years later.
Three new subs that work versus four that don't?
The choice is obvious.
At the time, the deal seemed like a way to keep a vital capability when there was no funding for it. It has turned into a colossal boondoggle, but based on the experts opinions at the time (DND and RN), the costs were never expected to be this high.
A similar argument could be made for Canada not spending 10s of billions of dollars maintaining thousands of troops in Germany for more than four decades during the Cold War. That war never happened, and it is highly unlikely that the USSR was going to be deterred by our relatively small commitment in Europe, so we could have just kept your troops here in Canada and saved billions.
Hindsight is always 20/20.
Taking your numbers as gospel for the price Canada would pay (Portugal got theirs for less than $500 million USD http://www.janes.com/products/janes/def ... 1065927684 ), we could still have bought three zero mile Type 212/214 subs for same or less than what we spent on four hand me downs which still do not function properly ten years later.
Three new subs that work versus four that don't?
The choice is obvious.
At the time, the deal seemed like a way to keep a vital capability when there was no funding for it. It has turned into a colossal boondoggle, but based on the experts opinions at the time (DND and RN), the costs were never expected to be this high.
A similar argument could be made for Canada not spending 10s of billions of dollars maintaining thousands of troops in Germany for more than four decades during the Cold War. That war never happened, and it is highly unlikely that the USSR was going to be deterred by our relatively small commitment in Europe, so we could have just kept your troops here in Canada and saved billions.
Hindsight is always 20/20.
It was a good deal at the time. Frankly, in the froth to blame the UK, who's at fault when you buy a used car? The car lot that doesn't tell you everything or the buyer who doesn't take the vehicle to an independent mechanic for a thorough check up?
Canada shit the bed on this one, no question. All the problems we've encountered with these (at least those not caused ourselves or by accident) suggest we did not kick the tires very hard. Shame on us. Now we have to suck it up.
We were given a better rate and UK Gurkha engineers also upgraded our bases in exchange for UK troops being able to use our land for training. Something Germany would have no use for but our UK ally did.
So for almost the same amount of time we got three times the amount of subs. Germany would only offer 1 sub for what we bought the 3 UK diesel's and we got renovations to boot. Either way we still would have been behind because we have badly neglected shipyards.
...we have badly neglected shipyards.
I concur. I have not seen Halifax, but Esquimalt is in sore shape with way too much rust to be observed.
Why don't they just sell them and not use any subs?
Because it's a bugger to patrol under the ice in a kayak.
Why don't they just sell them and not use any subs?
Yea, we should just sell all that nasty bang-bang stuff. Who needs a military eh?