Lockheed Martin leads team of companies in warship bid

Only two days before the deadline for submissions to Canada’s Canadian Surface Combatant (CSC) program, Lockheed Martin has confirmed they’ve submitted a bid to produce Canada’s next generation of warships.

As part of the National Shipbuilding Strategy it’s expected that the CSC ships will serve as replacements to the country’s three recently retired Iroquois-class destroyers and the 12 Halifax-class multi-role patrol frigates.

Lockheed Martin says it has teamed up with BAE Systems, L3 Technologies, MDA and Ultra Electronics for their proposal under the name Canada’s Combat Ship Team.

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In a press release, Lockheed Martin said their submission is based on their Type 26 Global Combat Ship, which is already being produced for the United Kingdom — a feature that was billed as a bonus.

“With the UK Type 26 program running ahead of CSC, our Canadian ship will benefit from lessons learned on the U.K. program,” said Anne Healy, BAE Systems Canada Director, in a press release.

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Lockheed will also incorporate their combat management system — akin to the ship’s military brain — which is already deployed in Canada’s Halifax-class frigates.

Among the touted benefits of the bid are that the team employs more than 9,000 Canadians across 40 facilities in nearly every province.

Irving Shipbuilding has been tasked with building the CSC ships.

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Refreshing the fleet

A date for when Canada will choose its design has not been set though Lisa Campbell, the head of military procurement of Public Services and Procurement Canada, told the Canadian Press that a winner would be chosen next year.

The federal government has committed to building 15 of the ships and construction on the CSC ships is expected to begin in the early 2020s.

It’s estimated to cost between $50 billion and $60 billion.

According to an update in February from the Government of Canada, there were at least 12 eligible bidders. It’s unknown how many companies have actually submitted a bid.