Submarines are among the world’s most highly complex engineering assets, fulfilling strategic missions that cannot be performed by any other vessel. Through their formidable, versatile, and discreet ability to project national power, submarines provide an advantage as a strategic force multiplier. Their presence alone can intimidate opposing forces or dissuade them from acting altogether.
Navies around the world do incredible work with submarines, operating them in demanding and extreme environments. To ensure both the safety of the crews and the vessels’ effectiveness, submarines require specialized engineering disciplines, platform expertise, and exceptional project management methodologies, all supported by a robust supply chain.
For over 16 years, Babcock Canada (Babcock) has been a long-standing partner of the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) as Canada’s undisputed leader in submarine support under the Victoria In-Service Support Contract (VISSC). Babcock’s team combines the best of Canadian talent and in-country expertise with deep global submarine sustainment knowledge and experience from their operations supporting NATO allied countries. With proficiency in through-life support, design support, refits, and life-extensions, coupled with their extensive industry base of specialists and support teams from coast-to-coast, Babcock brings a deep understanding of defence engineering to Canada’s submarine sustainment enterprise.
As the VISSC’s Prime contractor, Babcock has worked side-by-side with the Canadian Government and its partners to deliver the only industry-led submarine in-service support program in Canada. The Victoria Class fleet nominally operates a cycle consisting of 9 years, supported throughout by short maintenance periods. Following this nine-year period, each submarine enters a deep maintenance & refit period, lasting a minimum of 3 years, depending on the material state and upgrade requirements. Since the VISSC’s inception in 2008, Babcock has led three of these deep maintenance and refit periods, commonly referred to as Extended Docking Work Periods (EDWPs); on HMCS Chicoutimi, HMCS Corner brook, and currently HMCS Victoria.
With each EDWP, Babcock has adapted to new challenges and leveraged experience and lessons learned from past activities.
When the Victoria Class first arrived in Canada, all four submarines were fitted with a legacy British Combat Management System, capable of firing Tigerfish torpedoes, Sub-Harpoon missiles, and laying undersea mines. Over the course of the VISSC, Babcock installed a new Submarine Fire Control System and modified its proprietary Weapons Handling and Discharge System (WHDS) to support the RCN’s Heavyweight Torpedo Upgrade project and the use of the new Mk48 Mod 7AT torpedoes, a torpedo with significantly improved detection, homing, and re-attack capabilities. The modifications to the WHDS by Babcock enhanced its safety; decreasing the risk of inadvertently flooding a torpedo tube and achieving system states that are less reliant on operators. Babcock’s improved WHDS has been implemented on all four Victoria Class submarines as part of their EDWPs.
HMCS Corner Brook was also first in the class to see the installation and integration of a Universal Modular Mast (UMM) capability. The UMM may be fitted with a variety of mission-specific payloads, including two antennas; a Sub High Data Rate Antenna, which allows the submarine to have advanced satellite communication, and a Communications Intercept Antenna, that supports the vessel’s communications intelligence capabilities. To accommodate the UMM, a significant amount of structural engineering and modifications were necessary to adapt the submarine’s fin for this new capability. With the UMM installed and tested, the C4ISR capabilities of the platform have been significantly enhanced.
As each EDWP took place, Babcock’s platform knowledge and expertise increased, and lessons learned began to spread beyond the EDWP execution. Babcock’s engineers, technologists, project managers, and specialty teams have developed several new capabilities and industry best practices that have all contributed to enhanced capability of the vessels and the broader submarine sustainment enterprise. These improvements were all designed to maintain operational capability, address obsolescence challenges, extend the platform’s life, and improve service delivery.
The Victoria Class submarines also saw the introduction of the Submarine Safety Program (SUBSAFE). SUBSAFE was originally introduced by the United States Navy to provide assurance that a submarine could recover from a flooding emergency. In Canada, the program is delivered by the RCN and provides a holistic risk management system that evaluates hazards to personnel, materiel, and readiness. At Babcock, safety is paramount as underlined by their commitment to ensure everybody goes home safe everyday. The vessel’s design, physical work completed on board, and advice to the customer can all have a significant impact on the submarine’s ability to operate at sea and keep submariners safe. Babcock works closely with the RCN to ensure all equipment and materials onboard meet the SUBSAFE requirements.
Throughout the VISSC, Babcock has successfully transitioned significant elements of the submarine supply chain from overseas into Canada. This has delivered significant economic benefit to the Canadian economy and at the same time, helped to establish and grow Canada’s sovereign submarine sustainment capability. Babcock is proud to have led the development of a vast network of over 450 suppliers from coast-to-coast, and to-date, has invested over $200 million in small-and medium sized business across Canada. Babcock’s Canadian operations also support over 2,000 jobs annually, 1,249 of which are highly skilled.
By actively growing Canada’s workforce, prioritizing skills development, and championing research and development initiatives, Babcock is ensuring the long-term sustainability and effectiveness of Canada’s submarine sustainment enterprise. These commitments have culminated in $3 billion impact on Canada’s GDP.
The specialized submarine supply chain and highly skilled engineering delivered through the VISSC, provides Canada an essential capability in maintaining a key strategic asset in the Canadian Armed Forces arsenal. As Canada begins to bridge from the Victoria Class submarines to a larger and even more technologically advanced class, the maintenance and growth of the existing industrial base will be essential to ensure operational capability and the defence of North America. A new fleet will require the repatriation of supply chains from the original equipment manufacturer nation to Canada, expansion of current industrial capacities, and development of new submarine infrastructure. The Victoria Class is planned to operate deep into the 2030’s and we will continue to learn and adapt to new challenges ensuring the class remains safe, capable and ready to answer Canada’s call. This will also ensure Canada’s industrial base retains a strong and capable foundation, ready to support any future submarine fleet.
Over the course of the VISSC, Babcock has proven itself as the nation’s leader in submarine in-service support. As the government looks towards the Canadian Patrol Submarine Project, Babcock stands ready to leverage their extensive in-service support expertise, platform knowledge, and robust industrial base to provide first-in-class maintenance, repair and overhaul that will deliver safe, effective, and highly-capable submarines to Canada for decades to come.
