Joint Support Ship problems: No surprise

Only to be expected:

The Canadian navy's $2.9-billion project [h/t for link to Spotlight on Military News and International Affairs--Feb. 26 2009 update: original link has vanished as part of the Feds' stupid revamp of Internet sites to give "common feel", new one substituted] to replace its aging supply ships has run aground, with defence and industry officials concluding that the vessels can't be bought with the amount of money the Conservative government is providing.

Defence Department representatives have met with Treasury Board to ask for more money for the Joint Support Ship project, but at this point, it is unclear whether additional funds will be approved.

The JSS project, as it is called, was announced in Halifax in June 2006 by Public Works Minister Michael Fortier and then-defence minister Gordon O'Connor. The new vessels are to replace the aging supply ships, which are considered vital to supporting destroyers and frigates for long periods at sea.

The project is to acquire three new vessels as well as hire a company to conduct in-service support for the ships over a 20-year period...

The $2.1 billion set aside for buying three Joint Support Ships is not enough, defence officials confirm. They point out that part of the problem is the new vessels would conduct missions far beyond the scope of re-supplying warships at sea, the role now done by the decades-old Protecteur-class ships.

Besides supplying ships, the JSS will have to carry army vehicles, a command centre and a small hospital, as well as other facilities to support ground troops on shore.

There is no similar type of ship in the world, as most navies use two types of vessels to perform the distinct roles [emphasis added].

Defence officials have heard from industry that the money set aside by the government might be enough for two ships, not three. A minimum of three ships are needed because of the size of the territory covered by the navy and the fact that, at times, one ship could be sidelined for maintenance...

The first ship is supposed to be delivered sometime in 2012, but it's unclear at this point whether that schedule will be kept...

The new ships will be around 200 metres in length and have a displacement of 28,000 metric tonnes.

Defence chief Gen. Rick Hillier views the ships as key to the future of the Canadian Forces, not just to support the navy in its missions. He has said the JSS would be used to provide support to international operations for the other services as well.

"The ships will provide the vital lifeline of supply and support to other Canadian navy ships as well as to army and air force assets in certain deployed operations," Gen. Hillier has said [more on the latter type of vessel, the "landing" or "amphibious" ship].

"A key component of the Canadian Forces transformation, the ships will help build a truly 'joint' navy, army and air force capability."

These are vessels designed to do too many things and even more costly because of the insistence they be built completely in Canada. As I wrote at the preceding link almost two years ago:

Moreover, there is a lot of doubt how capable Canadian shipyards (Davie in Quebec may be the only one) are of building a ship as complex as the JSS--especially on time and on budget. It might well make a lot more sense to build less complex AORs [ships that supply other ships at sea] here and simply have Amphibious Ship(s) built abroad.

The Aussies are taking a different approach with their new big honking ships--a foreign design, Spanish, with the hulls built in Spain and then fitted out in Australia. A lot of local work but not the whole shebang.

Update: A topic thread at Milnet.ca. And a post by David Pugliese of the Ottawa Citizen that, I think, says much that I did just above. Funny it took Mr Pugliese so long to make the point.

Upperdate: Meanwhile, another "oh dear!"

The navy’s sole East Coast supply ship is experiencing more leaky boiler problems.

HMCS Preserver, which underwent repairs to both its boilers two years ago, will be docked this summer for more boiler work.

Technicians will replace as many as 150 tubes in the generating bank of the warship’s main port boiler.

"It’s a 40-year-old piece of kit," said Ray Aube, the supervisor of mechanical engineering at Fleet Maintenance Facility Cape Scott in Halifax...