Submarines

One of Canada's "new" submarines has been disabled by an electrical fire, and is now being towed back to port. These submarines were purchased second-hand from the British, who built them and then immediately decided to go with an all-nuclear fleet. Now there is much second guessing about the value of these submarines, both in the House of Commons and at the lunch table. Whether these subs were a good deal or not remains to be seen. But here are a few facts to consider:

1) Canada was operating 3 1960's era submarines. Purchasing the "Upholder" class boats allowed us to retire the older subs.

2) the cost was 1/3 the cost of building new subs. You don't buy a used car for one third the price of a new one, and then express shock when everything isn't perfect. Besides, the "age" of a submarine is defined by the number of dives to maximum depth, rather than simply the number of years since it was constructed. These boats hardly have any "time on the hull".

3) the "Upholder" boats are considered by Naval Analysts to be the best diesel-electric submarines in the world. The sonar is the equivalent of a block 1 Trafalgar class SSN!

4) submarines have value because they are unseen. For example, Britain started a blockade of the Falkland Islands by simply putting out a press release implying that British submarines were in the area.

5) having submarines is a part of having a balanced military force. People will often ask, "What does Canada need with X", where X is any particular piece of military equipment. But an independent nation needs a balanced military force in order to be able to conduct any operations the government deems necessary.