Canadian firms line up for frigate work

Canadian defence firms are lining up to bid on a $1 billion contract to upgrade the Royal Canadian Navy’s frigates, promising a boost in employment on the West Coast. The Canadian government will issue a request for proposals by the end of November for the project to install a new command and control system on the navy’s 12 Halifax-class frigates. Five of them will be worked on in Victoria, as part of an overall $3-billion upgrade plan that also includes improvements to weapons systems and changes to accommodate new helicopters. The other seven ships will be worked on in Halifax.

MacDonald Dettwiler Canada of Richmond, as well as General Dynamics Canada and Lockheed Martin Canada, both of Ottawa, have been deemed by defence officials as qualified to work on the command and control system work. All three firms would have a workforce in Victoria and Halifax, in addition to at their headquarters.

At the same time the government moves ahead with upgrading the command and control systems on the frigates, it will spend another $2 billion to further modernize the warships over the next decade. That includes work on new mechanical systems for the frigates, improvements to missiles and other weapons and changes to the ships so they can handle the new Cyclone choppers that will arrive in two years.

The refit is expected to be a huge boon to Victoria’s shipbuilding industry, in particular at Victoria Shipyards, which was selected in July to upgrade the vessels. At that time, the company estimated the project was worth up to $500 million and would create 300 jobs.

Victoria Shipyards will work closely with the consortium that wins the contract to upgrade the vessel’s command and control systems, military officials said. The consortiums should know by late next year which of the three has won the contract.

The first modernized ship will be delivered to the navy by 2011. The work on the frigates will continue until 2017 with each refit taking about 18 months. The Halifax-class warships, built in Canada and commissioned in the early 1990s, are considered the backbone of the navy.