Amphibious Assault Ship Project
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The Amphibious Assault Ship Project was a proposed procurement project by the
Government of Canada The Government of Canada (), formally His Majesty's Government (), is the body responsible for the federation, federal administration of Canada. The term ''Government of Canada'' refers specifically to the executive, which includes Minister of t ...
for the
Royal Canadian Navy The Royal Canadian Navy (RCN; , ''MRC'') is the Navy, naval force of Canada. The navy is one of three environmental commands within the Canadian Armed Forces. As of February 2024, the RCN operates 12 s, 12 s, 4 s, 4 s, 8 s, and several auxiliary ...
(RCN). However, no such project was incorporated into the Government's defence plan '' Strong, Secure and Engaged'' released in 2017 and cost challenges with other naval procurement projects under the
National Shipbuilding Procurement Strategy The National Shipbuilding Strategy (NSS), formerly the National Shipbuilding Procurement Strategy (NSPS), is a Government of Canada program operated by the Department of Public Works and Government Services. The NSS was developed under the Steph ...
has led to no movement on the idea. This idea came about as part of the development of the
Joint Support Ship Project The ''Protecteur'' class (formerly known as the ''Queenston'' class) of naval auxiliaries for the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) began as the Joint Support Ship Project, a Government of Canada procurement project for the RCN that is part of the Na ...
of the Royal Canadian Navy and the need to improve the strategic sealift and amphibious assault capability of the Canadian Forces. Many of the capabilities required for strategic sealift were to be included in the Joint Support Ship Project, however, a dedicated amphibious assault ship was favoured by some, such as then Chief of the Defence Staff
Rick Hillier Rick J. Hillier (born June 30, 1955) is a retired Canadian Armed Forces, Canadian Forces General (Canada), general, who served as the Chief of the Defence Staff (Canada), chief of the Defence Staff (CDS) from 4 February 2005 to 1 July 2008. He pr ...
. By late 2008, the project appeared to have been placed on hold, if not cancelled. By 2013 the project was again being discussed as the result of a proposal made by the
Thales Thales of Miletus ( ; ; ) was an Ancient Greek philosophy, Ancient Greek Pre-Socratic philosophy, pre-Socratic Philosophy, philosopher from Miletus in Ionia, Asia Minor. Thales was one of the Seven Sages of Greece, Seven Sages, founding figure ...
( DCNS) to provide the design. In mid-2014, both DCNS and
SNC Lavalin SNC may refer to: Politics * Solidarity National Committee of the American Solidarity Party * The Syrian National Council, an opposition coalition * National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces or Syrian National Coalition * ...
offered three ships at a cost CAD$2.6 billion (2 billion
euro The euro (currency symbol, symbol: euro sign, €; ISO 4217, currency code: EUR) is the official currency of 20 of the Member state of the European Union, member states of the European Union. This group of states is officially known as the ...
). SNC Lavalin proposed to construct the vessels, while DCNS would design them and
STX France Chantiers de l'Atlantique is a shipyard in Saint-Nazaire, Saint-Nazaire, France. It is one of the world's largest shipyards, constructing a wide range of commercial, naval, and passenger ships. It is located near Nantes, at the mouth of the Loire, ...
would consolidate the hulls for arctic operations. The Royal Canadian Navy also trained with the
French Navy The French Navy (, , ), informally (, ), is the Navy, maritime arm of the French Armed Forces and one of the four military service branches of History of France, France. It is among the largest and most powerful List of navies, naval forces i ...
on a Thales-built amphibious assault ship. However, the project was abandoned due to budget constraints.


Background

In 2005 Chief of Defence Staff, General Rick Hillier and Director of Maritime Requirements, Captain (N) Peter Ellis told the Standing Committee on National Defence in the
House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...
that the Canadian Forces required strategic sealift capacity for operations in the 21st century. The Minister of National Defence at that time, David Pratt, was directly involved in several major procurement projects totaling $7.0 billion including the Joint Support Ship Project and what became the Amphibious Assault Ship Project, declaring that in the next decade the Canadian Forces must expect to engage in the sort of operations it has experienced over the past decade.


Concept

According to the
Direction générale de l'Armement The Direction générale de l'armement (, , abbr. DGA), established in 1961, is the French Government defence procurement and technology agency, responsible within the Ministry of Armed Forces for project management, development, and purchase of ...
(DGA), as well as the French newspaper ''
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'', the
Royal Canadian Navy The Royal Canadian Navy (RCN; , ''MRC'') is the Navy, naval force of Canada. The navy is one of three environmental commands within the Canadian Armed Forces. As of February 2024, the RCN operates 12 s, 12 s, 4 s, 4 s, 8 s, and several auxiliary ...
had shown "strong interest" in purchasing two ''Mistral''-class amphibious assault ships from
France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
. A ''Mistral''-class ship can carry a significantly large military force with equipment and vehicles in "fighting order", enabling the Canadian Forces to face armed opposition ashore. As conceived, the Amphibious Assault Ship Project envisioned a ship that could carry personnel and equipment that could rapidly disembark in waves using
landing craft Landing craft are small and medium seagoing watercraft, such as boats and barges, used to convey a landing force (infantry and vehicles) from the sea to the shore during an amphibious assault. The term excludes landing ships, which are larger. ...
and/or
helicopter A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which Lift (force), lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning Helicopter rotor, rotors. This allows the helicopter to VTOL, take off and land vertically, to hover (helicopter), hover, and ...
s such as the
CH-47 Chinook The Boeing CH-47 Chinook is a tandem-rotor helicopter originally developed by American rotorcraft company Piasecki Helicopter, Vertol and now manufactured by Boeing Defense, Space & Security. The Chinook is a Military transport helicopter, heav ...
. The ship would be able to disembark personnel and equipment, and support to them in the face of armed opposition. The
warship A warship or combatant ship is a naval ship that is used for naval warfare. Usually they belong to the navy branch of the armed forces of a nation, though they have also been operated by individuals, cooperatives and corporations. As well as b ...
could also be used in support of humanitarian operations since it would have a large hospital on board designed for treating combat casualties. The ship will be able to carry a battalion-size able to conduct noncombatant evacuation operation around the world. The Canadian Alliance Party had issued a call for procuring four "support / amphibious ships, at least one dedicated helicopter / light carrier". First considered in the year 2000, whether the Amphibious Assault Ship Project ever made it to the design stage is still unclear. The
Royal Canadian Military Institute The Royal Canadian Military Institute (RCMI) is a private members' organization with a focus on military history, defence studies and international affairs. Located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, it was founded as the Canadian Military Institut ...
had proposed to obtain four ships similar to the British .


Aircraft

As with any amphibious assault ship, a possible Canadian amphibious assault ship would be expected to carry a number of
transport helicopter A military transport aircraft, military cargo aircraft or airlifter is a military-owned transport aircraft used to support military operations by airlifting troops and military equipment. Transport aircraft are crucial to maintaining supply ...
s as well as aircraft for possible offensive and defensive roles. The staff of the Canadian Forces had requested that the ship be capable of carrying a minimum of six
attack helicopter An attack helicopter is an armed helicopter with the primary role of an attack aircraft, with the offensive (military), offensive capability of engaging ground targets such as enemy infantry, military vehicles and fortifications. Due to their ...
s along with seventeen medium helicopters or 12 heavy-lift helicopters. In 2003, Major General (ret.)
Lewis MacKenzie Lewis Wharton MacKenzie Order of Canada, CM, Meritorious Service Cross, MSC, Order of Ontario, OOnt, Canadian Forces' Decoration, CD (born 30 April 1940) is a Canadian retired major general, author and media Pundit (expert), commentator. MacKen ...
declared that Canada must consider buying the
aircraft carrier An aircraft carrier is a warship that serves as a seagoing airbase, equipped with a full-length flight deck and hangar facilities for supporting, arming, deploying and recovering carrier-based aircraft, shipborne aircraft. Typically it is the ...
-capable version of the
F-35 Lightning II The Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II is an American family of single-seat, single-engine, supersonic Stealth aircraft, stealth strike fighters. A multirole combat aircraft designed for both Air superiority fighter, air superiority and att ...
.


''Mistral''-class concept rejection

In 2014 the Department of Defence looked at the possibility of acquiring two already complete ''Mistral''-class amphibious assault ships from France. These vessels had been originally ordered by Russia in 2010 but the delivery was halted following the illegal annexation and occupation of Crimea by Russia. As a result France began looking for other potential buyers including Canada and Egypt. After an examination process and several training cruises on the vessels, in 2015 the Deputy Defence Minister John Forster advised Defence Minister
Jason Kenney Jason Thomas Kenney (born May 30, 1968) is a former Canadian politician who served as the 18th premier of Alberta from 2019 until 2022, and the leader of the United Conservative Party (UCP) from 2017 until 2022. He also served as the member o ...
not to go ahead with the purchase. Forster cited how the purchase and operating costs of the vessels would stress resources on the already over budget $39 billion
National Shipbuilding Procurement Strategy The National Shipbuilding Strategy (NSS), formerly the National Shipbuilding Procurement Strategy (NSPS), is a Government of Canada program operated by the Department of Public Works and Government Services. The NSS was developed under the Steph ...
. Due to the negative impact it would have on the construction on other vessels needed to replace Canada's aging surface combat fleet, the Department of National Defence withdrew interest in purchasing the vessels. The two ''Mistral'' vessels would end up being sold to the
Egyptian Navy The Egyptian Navy (), also known as the Egyptian Naval Forces, is the maritime branch of the Egyptian Armed Forces. It is the largest navy in the Middle East as well as Africa, and is the twelfth largest (by the number of vessels) navy in the w ...
in 2015 becoming and .


See also

*
Joint Support Ship Project The ''Protecteur'' class (formerly known as the ''Queenston'' class) of naval auxiliaries for the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) began as the Joint Support Ship Project, a Government of Canada procurement project for the RCN that is part of the Na ...
* Marine Commando Regiment *
List of amphibious warfare ships This is a list of amphibious warfare ships. Algeria ;Algerian National Navy Active: *''Kalaat Béni Abbès'' class - LPD ** (commissioned 2014) *''Kalaat Beni Hammed'' class - LST **''Kalaat Beni Hammed'' 472 **''Kalaat Beni Rached'' 473 Arg ...


References

{{Royal Canadian Navy Proposed ships of the Royal Canadian Navy Canadian defence procurement