Federal Government Set to Launch Competition for Canada’s Next Multibillion-Dollar Warship Design (excerpt)
The competition, which involves 12 of the largest defence and shipbuilding companies in the world, is expected to be launched on Thursday after years of debate, delays and hand-wringing.
Companies will be given six months to submit designs for a new warship which will replace the navy’s 12 frigates and its three recently retired destroyers.
The winning design, pegged by one source as worth upwards of $10 billion out of a project that’s expected to cost between $26 billion and $40 billion, will be built by Irving Shipyards in Halifax, with the first ship scheduled to hit the water in 2024.
“This is the product of close to a decade of hard work to get to this point, which is hopefully going to lead in short order to actually cutting steel on warships for Canada,” said defence analyst David Perry of the Canadian Global Affairs Institute.
But some companies have already been grumbling about the process, raising fears the competition could hit rocky waters and produce further delays and problems.
Among the complaints is the role of Irving Shipyards, which is actually running the competition. That has sparked allegations the competition will be biased in favour of designs put forward by companies with which Irving has a pre-existing relationship.
Irving and the government have pushed back against such allegations, saying the navy will be watching over Irving’s shoulder and that the entire process has been approved by an independent fairness monitor. (end of excerpt)
Click for the full story, on the National Post website.
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