Lockheed Martin’s [LMT] team delivered its final proposal for the Canadian Surface Combatant (CSC) frigate-type ship program, using the BAE Systems Type 26 Global Combat Ship (GCS), on Friday.
The company’s team, called Canada’s Combat Ship Team, also includes BAE, Canada’s CAE, L3 Technologies [LLL], Canada’s MDA, and Britain’s Ultra Electronics.
Image: BAE Systems
The CSC program has a $19 billion budget to build 15 new ships to replace Iroquois-class destroyers and Halifax-class multi-role patrol frigates and replace them with a single platform capable of countering several threats on the ocean and in coastal environments.
Initial bids were proposed last November, then teams received feedback and revised their proposals, with final bids due last Friday.
Lockheed Martin’s team initial November proposal argued that since the U.K. Royal Navy is building eight new Type 26 ships, there is no obsolescence in design and their option presents the lowest risk to Canada. BAE first started building the U.K. Type 26s in July 2017 (Defense Daily, Nov. 29, 2017).
Last Month, Australia selected BAE to build nine anti-submarine frigates for its SEA 5000 program using a variant of the Type 26, the Global Combat Ship-Australia. The Australian ships will be designated as Hunter-class FFG frigates. BAE outbid Italy’s Fincantieri with the FREMM frigate and Spain’s Navantia with a redesigned F100 frigate.
“At the core of the Team’s Value Proposition is the lowest risk solution that will deliver the right ship for Canada’s CSC needs while also providing the best economic outcomes for Canada,” Lockheed Martin said in a statement.
In a Monday statement the company said their Canadian Type 26 will have a low acoustic signature, Canadian-developed CMS 330 combat management system, is a bow-to-stern digitally designed warship, and is “purposely designed for high-end anti-submarine warfare and capable of performing a variety of missions in any part of the world.”
Lockheed Martin added that the Type 26 will only require “minor change to meet Canada’s CSC needs and builds upon knowledge gained from the U.K.’s Type 26 Global Combat Ship and Australia’s SEA 5000 programs.”
Although there were initially 12 eligible bidders for the program, only three are moving forward: the Lockheed Martin-led bid, Navantia with its F-105 frigate, and an Alion Science and Technology-led design using the Dutch De Zeven Provinciën-class frigate built by Damen Schelde Naval Shipbuilding (Defense Daily, Dec. 8, 2017).
Canada’s procurement agency rejected a last-minute bid by France’s Naval Group and Italy’s Fincantieri to offer the FREMM frigate because it was submitted outside the established competitive process. The Naval Group-Fincantieri team thought the process was biased in favor of the Lockheed Martin team (Defense Daily, Dec. 6, 2017).
The government plans to make a final decision this year, with construction to start in the early 2020s by prime contractor Irving Shipbuilding in Halifax, Canada.