HMCS Arctic/Offshore Patrol Ship (AOPS)
The Arctic and Offshore Patrol Ships (AOPS), designated the Harry DeWolf-class, will enhance the Royal Canadian Navy’s (RCN) ability to assert Canadian sovereignty into the low Arctic and coastal Canadian waters, and support international operations as required. The Harry DeWolf-class patrol vessel will operate in the Arctic between July and October, providing a greater, and longer, CAF presence in the north. It will be capable of operating in first-year ice of 120-centimeter thickness. This will allow the Royal Canadian Navy to have unescorted access to areas of the Arctic that were previously inaccessible. In addition, the AOPS will be able to accommodate a Cyclone helicopter as well as small vehicles, deployable boats, and cargo containers. This will enable the RCN to have unescorted access to areas of the Arctic that were previously inaccessible.
This is the first time in its 108-year history that the RCN is naming a class after a prominent Canadian Navy figure. The remainder in the class will be named to honour other prominent Royal Canadian Navy heroes who served their country with the highest distinction. The Harry DeWolf-class will be affiliated with regions of the Inuit Nunangat. The first affiliation between HMCS Harry DeWolf and the Qikiqtani region of Nunavut was formalized in May 2019. The remaining affiliations within the Inuit Nunangat in the Kitikmeot and Kivalliq regions of Nunavut as well as the Inuvialuit, Nunavik and Nunatsiavut regions - will occur as each AOPS is constructed and enters service. Affiliation between an HMC Ship, its sailors and civilian communities is a long-standing and honoured naval tradition, with relationships lasting throughout the service life of the ship.
The AOPS will provide armed, sea-borne surveillance of Canadian waters, including the Arctic. These ships will enforce sovereignty, cooperation with partners, at home and abroad, and will provide the Government of Canada with awareness of activities in Canada’s waters. The multi-purpose nature and versatility of the fleet, both when deployed independently or as part of an allied or coalition task force, allows Canada to rapidly deploy credible naval forces worldwide on short notice.
Integrated Bridge Navigation System is a modern integrated bridge, where the ship’s crew can control the navigation, machinery, and damage control systems can be performed. The AOPS provides a multi-purpose space where operational planning and mission execution will be coordinated. The 25mm Mk 38 machine gun system that features a highly accurate gun targeting and surveillance system, as well as the M242 Cannon. This system can be employed to support domestic law enforcement roles. The system will be modified for protection against arctic conditions.
The enclosed focsle and cable deck will protect machinery on the foredeck and personal workspaces from harsh arctic environments. The AOPS has an embarked helicopter capability, and depending on mission requirements is able to accommodate ranging from small utility aircraft up to the new CH-148 maritime helicopter. The stern of the ship is able to accommodate multiple payload options such as shipping containers, underwater survey equipment, or landing craft. The ship is also equipped with a 20-tonne crane, providing self-load and unload capability. The arctic environment can vary drastically and in order to provide rapid mobility capability to personnel over land or ice, the AOPS has a bay for specialized vehicles such as pickup trucks, ATVs, and snowmobiles.
The AOPS will be powered by ?two 4.5 megawatt (MW) main propulsion (induction) motors, and four 3.6 mega volt ampere (MVA) generators. The retractable active fin stabilizers can be deployed to reduce ship roll while conducting open ocean operations, and can be retracted for operations in ice. The ship is able to reach a maximum speed of 17 knots (31 km/h) and 3 knots (5.6 km/h) as icebreaking. She has a maximum cruising range of 6,800 nautical miles (12,600 km). The ship has a crew of 65 people. The multi-role rescue boats boast a top speed of 35+ knots (~65 km/h) and are 8.5 metres long. These water craft will be used in support of rescue operations, personnel transfers and boarding operations. The bow thrusters provides increased manoeuvrability for the ship and allows for berthing without tug assistance.
Specifically designed to patrol Canada’s offshore waters and northernmost regions, this new class of ship will be at the core of an enhanced Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) Arctic presence, effectively complementing the capabilities of our other current and future warships through critical reconnaissance and surveillance activities. In addition to highly versatile platforms that will enable the ship to support a variety of domestic and international missions, its modern accommodations and facilities will also significantly improve the comfort and quality of life for its crew, underscoring the CAF’s commitment to improved inclusivity and well-being for personnel.
The delivery of this ship marked a new chapter in Canada’s naval history, and its construction created hundreds of new jobs for Canadians. HMCS Harry DeWolf will remain docked at Jetty NJ at the CFB Halifax Dockyard while the RCN conducts its post-acceptance trials and training, including operations near Newfoundland and Labrador. Once this post-acceptance work wAs complete, the ship underWENT a formal commissioning ceremony 26June 2021, which marked that it officially entered into active naval service, followed by an Arctic deployment. Construction for the following three ships was ongoing, with construction of the fifth and sixth ships expected to begin in 2021 and 2022, respectively. The AOPS project will provide the RCN with six new ice-capable ships, as well as two variants of the AOPS for the Canadian Coast Guard. Construction of the seventh and eighth ships is expected to begin in 2022 and 2023, respectively.
The federal government announced in 2007 that it would procure a fleet of 8 light icebreaker patrol ships for the Canadian Forces. The Arctic Patrol Ship Project is based on a Royal Norwegian Navy patrol boat design used in the Barents Sea with a polar class of PC 5; thus they will be significantly smaller and less capable than what was envisioned in the Polar 8 Project, which would have extended the capabilities of the Canadian Coast Guard's operations in the Arctic Ocean. Some media and political sources termed these new patrol vessels, with limited ice capability, as mere "slush breakers".
The Arctic/Offshore Patrol Ship project consumed substantial quantities of both ink and airtime. This, in part, reflects Canadians’ seemingly inborn fascination with issues of sovereignty, security, and stewardship in the north, an interest and concern thrown into even sharper relief by global warming. Bloggers had a field day, deeming the AOPS every- thing from “slushbreakers” to “lightweight patrol divas” and “goofy dock queens.” When the ice can be six metres thick, Canada would get a boat that can go through one meter. Basically, for part of the year the boats will be on the east and west coast, giving up the north, when Canada are having conflicts with other countries.
Affordability-driven cutbacks – both quantitative and qualitative – will leave the ships woefully deficient in sensors, speed, armament, and other capabilities, and, consequently, in overall utility and cost-effectiveness. Arguably the only real consensus between the factions is that the original Conservative plan for three “armed naval heavy icebreakers” was ill-considered. How and why the three “armed naval heavy icebreakers” mooted by the Conservatives in the 2006 election campaign morphed into six to eight comparatively modest Arctic/Offshore Patrol Ships drew considerable attention.
As the Montreal Gazette posited on 11 July 2007, the Harper government “...has now backed away from earlier plans to show the flag up north in a convincing year-round way. [The new] plan to build six, seven or eight new Arctic patrol vessels ... is a half-measure that Canadians might one day regret. If he really believes this scaled-back presence is appropriate, Harper should explain, in more detail, why he has abandoned the ambitious plan on which he campaigned in 2006.” Also apparent is a fear that the Arctic/Offshore Patrol Ship – dubbed a ‘slushbreaker’ by more than one commentator – will siphon money from the urgently required recapitalization of the coast guard’s icebreaker fleet.
The Arctic/Offshore Patrol Ship (AOPS) Project has been established in order to deliver to the government of Canada a naval ice-capable offshore patrol ship to assert and enforce sovereignty in Canada's waters including the Arctic. As of 2007 it was planned that the first A/OPS would be acquired until 2013 and the last about 2017. Information available from unofficial sources currently indicates that each vessel will be in the area of 100 meters long with a displacement of 3,000 tons. Denmark has four Thetis-class frigates designed for sovereignty and fisheries protection. They are strengthened for operations in up to one meter of ice, and patrol waters around Greenland and the Faroe Islands. They are 369' loa x 47' beam, 3,500 tons full load displacement, armed with a 76-mm gun and a Lynx helicopter, have excellent endurance (8,500 nm at 15.5 knots) and a small crew of 60 with 30 additional bunks. The Norwegian Coast Guard's Arctic Patrol Vessel Svalbard, completed in 2002, is shorter and more beamy than Thetis at 340' x 62.7', has a 57-mm gun, also operates a medium helicopter, and has a long endurance (10,000 nm at 13 knots). Svalbard has a broad-beamed hull, a slower maximum speed of 17.5 knots, and at 6,300 tons is a very substantial vessel.
Project Deliverables
The AOPS Project will deliver to the Canadian Forces six to eight fully supported Arctic/Offshore Patrol Ships capable of:
- conducting armed sea-borne surveillance of Canada's waters, including the Arctic;
- providing government situational awareness of activities and events in these regions; and
- cooperating with other elements of the Canadian Forces and other federal government departments to assert and enforce Canadian sovereignty, when and where necessary.
Proposed Ship Capabilities
The following high-level draft requirements are presented as an indication of the capabilities required of the Arctic/Offshore Patrol Ship. These requirements will be studied and refined during Project Definition. The Arctic/Offshore Patrol Ships (AOPS) will have the following capabilities:
- The ships will have sufficient flexibility to operate independently and effectively in Canada's Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZ), including such diverse environments as the Canadian Arctic, the Grand Banks of Newfoundland and off the Northwest coast of the Queen Charlotte Islands. The ships would also be capable of navigating the St-Lawrence River on a year-round basis and berthing in Quebec City;
- They will be able to operate year-round in medium first-year ice which may include old ice inclusions as well as the open ocean areas in the Atlantic and Pacific Canadian EEZ;
- They will have an ice capability exclusively for their own mobility and not to provide icebreaking services to others;
- They will be able to sustain operations for up to four months;
- They will have a range of at least six thousand eight hundred nautical miles;
- They will have sufficient organic situational awareness to ensure safety of navigation and flight;
- They will have a sufficient command, control and communication (C3) capability to provide and receive real-time information to/from the Canadian Forces' Common Operating Picture (COP);
- They will have a cruise speed of at least 14 knots and a maximum speed of at least 17 knots at 85% MCR (maximum continuous rating);
- They will have a gun armament; and
- They will remain operational for 25 years beyond Initial Operational Capability (IOC).
Additionally, the AOPS may be required to be capable of embarking and operating, in up to sea state three, an on-board organic helicopter, up to and including a CH 148 CYCLONE, with one flying and one maintenance crew.
Procurement Strategy
The procurement strategy for AOPS is subject to the Canadian Shipbuilding Policy Framework, which dictates that the federal government will procure, repair and refit vessels in Canada subject to operational requirements and the continued existence of a competitive domestic marketplace. The National Security Exception was invoked for both the acquisition and In-Service Support portions of the project. The strategy is based on a two-phase approach:
- Project Definition involves the creation of an Integrated Project Team (IPT) made up of personnel from DND, PWGSC, and Industry Canada, and supported by a Definition, Engineering, Logistics and Management Support (DELMS) contractor. The DELMS contractor, engaged through a competitive process, will develop an illustrative design of the AOPS and use this to assist the project staff in refining the ship specification and Statement of Work (SOW) to be used for the Project Implementation Request for Proposal (RFP). Industry will be engaged and kept informed of progress and design work. Interest from industry wishing to participate in the implementation phase will be sought through a Letter of Interest and Qualification to allow teams to self-identify, and teams that pre-qualify will be invited to comment on the draft Project Implementation Request for Proposal. The first phase will end with the issuing of the Project Implementation Request for Proposal and the recommendation of a contractor for Project Implementation. The DELMS contractor will be ineligible to bid or be part of a team bidding on the Project Implementation contract.
- Project Implementation will commence with the award of the acquisition contract and the long-term in-service support contract.
The Industrial and Regional Benefits (IRB) Policy will be a mandatory element of the AOPS Project. The IRB Policy is administered by Industry Canada and all IRB requirements are determined by Industry Canada with assistance from the Regional Development Agencies. The selected Project Implementation contractor will be required to provide IRBs equivalent to 100% of the values of the acquisition contract and the long-term in-service support contract.
