An important use case that we need to keep in mind for us is seasonal supply of our existing & future northern bases. This would be a large peacetime use case of these vessels
Wow. I'm convinced you have admirals and generals in your living room. Solid post and filled with all the 'angles and dangles' here in your arguments and perspectives evaluating strategic sealift and stuft arrangements for Canada and across the alliance. I had forgotten about the mistral affair. If I may add another angle, which I kept waiting to see pop into this major post (and certainly not a critique) - don't forget about the RCN's ALSC concept project, the precursor to AOPV. GLAM aside, which I am a fan as well, ALSC had somethjng going for it. Especially now with all the focus and pomp on drone swarms in maritime warfare. A nice welldock to release the hounds may well be a useful capability, and specifically the alliance may need mobile autonmous motherships...like the german milk cows Type XIVs, not for subs but for surface and subsurface autonomous platforms. On a historical note - not all allies have the QE2 sized liners to transport troops, and even once stuft, modifications are required. Great post Noah, and well worth the read.
We would need to build out the Fleet auxiliary, but I fear that Federal Fleet services has poisoned that well a bit with their very high costs. If we built up a proper fleet auxiliary, it would not just be good for the CAF, but all of Canada as it will give Canadian Merchant Marine deck officers a place to learn and get needed sea time. this will mean more tug masters, Chief Engineers and Ship Pilots that are all needed to keep the marine industry going.
For ships, I prefer something like the Mistral, but a modern RO/RO will do and a LST type vessel, ice strengthened to assist the CAF in the arctic and capable of landing heavy equipment anywhere up there as required.
I plan to talk about this a bit more next week, but agreed. There are more vessels that fall into these weird 'in-between' category where they're vital to our security, but perhaps aren't vessels we would traditionally put int hat role. Ro/Ro are at the bottom of that list, no one argues their utility. However there are others.
No need to create a new branch to operate these as these would make great coast guard vessels under their new defense integration could double as rescue and supply to not only bases but communities up north while the military transport role could also be added to the obligation. This may require additional coast guard personnel hired but it may be easier to increase recruitment of civilians there as opposed to adding to the already difficult military recruitment numbers.
I will continue to wish for the day that we have some sort of Sealift... Hopefully with ships big enough to lift a Battlegroup (Battalion + size)... Or at least a doctrinal Square combat team (which is much bigger than most folks realize). We might be going up to Division focus, but we still need to think about lift capacity in terms of discrete chunks/capabilities.
Combining with UK requirement seems like a good idea... Maybe we could even build a few under NSS? Otherwise, there's the option of adding a few RORO ferries to the Transport Canada requirement under NSS... & Making sure they are big enough to carry the aforementioned capability blocks.
As for crewing... RCN crew would be ideal, but CAF ownership/contracted crewing would probably be a reasonable compromise. Even DND ownes, you could probably set the contract such that the private operator can make profit driven runs when not required by RCN.
Yes I would love to have some version of something like a Canadian Mistral but I doubt that is happening for a number of reasons…. But a small fleet of Ro-Ro’s would be great…. Now doubt we have yard space to build them with everything else on the books or getting discused. Maybe this is a time to cut that deal with S Korea tobuild a small fleet (and probably very quickly). I would prefer we own & run them…I would hate to think the one time we need them that they are thousands of miles away. As Mathew said….there is our North to consider.
Yeah, part of the reason I advocate for some form of ownership at the least. It gives us more control and say over the vessels that doesnt come from leasing. Thats especially important during times of conflict to me.
I think that depends on exactly what we want, and how much we expect them to do? If you could get away with more numerous, smaller vessels than I see no reason why it shouldn't be investigated.
Four is my kinda minimum for Point-sized vessels. Theyre big and flexible enough to do a lot, and even if we might not need their whole capacity, having it available is nice.
However you can also make that argument with smaller, more numerous vessels.
Great article. Who do you think would build the RO-RO ships? Would it be built by a domestic shipyard, considering the unique capabilities like Arctic capability that we want, or would it be built in foreign yards in Korea or Europe, since we would want to have our domestic output focused on combat full-navel ships and ice breakers.
I'm pretty ignorant when it comes to Sealift operations and challenges so feel free to scoff at this suggestion. I was wondering if it would be possible for the Government to purchase those Ro/Ro ships and create a Crown Corporation to run it as a business (yes, I know there will be inefficiencies and lack of profitability). During peacetime they could be expected to shuttle commercial cargo with the stipulation that they would be required to be suborned for military sealift in the case of a national crisis/emergency? I feel the slow bleed of money would be worth the standby capability.
There's plenty of opportunity for a joint procurement effort... DND, TC, Marine Atlantic, and other respective operators. We could establish sealift capability, stabilize/expand ferry services across Canada (reserve surge capacity), and probably do it all domestically.
Question because I don’t know or haven’t heard, but will there be a role for the RCN Reserves to play in some sort of Fleet Reserve? If the MCDV’s were mainly reserve OPV’s and the new CDC is a warfighter, will they be as utilized by naval reserves? Or will there be an opportunity there for the reserves to focus on other non-combat platforms?
An important use case that we need to keep in mind for us is seasonal supply of our existing & future northern bases. This would be a large peacetime use case of these vessels
They’re not going to let us transport a micro reactor on a Hercules ;)
Not with that attitude we aren't!
Wow. I'm convinced you have admirals and generals in your living room. Solid post and filled with all the 'angles and dangles' here in your arguments and perspectives evaluating strategic sealift and stuft arrangements for Canada and across the alliance. I had forgotten about the mistral affair. If I may add another angle, which I kept waiting to see pop into this major post (and certainly not a critique) - don't forget about the RCN's ALSC concept project, the precursor to AOPV. GLAM aside, which I am a fan as well, ALSC had somethjng going for it. Especially now with all the focus and pomp on drone swarms in maritime warfare. A nice welldock to release the hounds may well be a useful capability, and specifically the alliance may need mobile autonmous motherships...like the german milk cows Type XIVs, not for subs but for surface and subsurface autonomous platforms. On a historical note - not all allies have the QE2 sized liners to transport troops, and even once stuft, modifications are required. Great post Noah, and well worth the read.
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=https://www.nautilusint.org/en/news-insight/book-reviews/reviews-2025/april/when-the-merchant-navy-goes-to-war/%23:~:text%3DWhen%2520the%2520Cunard%2520liner%2520Queen,were%2520up%2520for%2520the%2520challenge.&ved=2ahUKEwib7viQ-6mQAxVXhIkEHZrDCoEQzsoNegQICBAb&usg=AOvVaw3w0ZfaEW3LEJFmBZyovogP
We would need to build out the Fleet auxiliary, but I fear that Federal Fleet services has poisoned that well a bit with their very high costs. If we built up a proper fleet auxiliary, it would not just be good for the CAF, but all of Canada as it will give Canadian Merchant Marine deck officers a place to learn and get needed sea time. this will mean more tug masters, Chief Engineers and Ship Pilots that are all needed to keep the marine industry going.
For ships, I prefer something like the Mistral, but a modern RO/RO will do and a LST type vessel, ice strengthened to assist the CAF in the arctic and capable of landing heavy equipment anywhere up there as required.
I plan to talk about this a bit more next week, but agreed. There are more vessels that fall into these weird 'in-between' category where they're vital to our security, but perhaps aren't vessels we would traditionally put int hat role. Ro/Ro are at the bottom of that list, no one argues their utility. However there are others.
No need to create a new branch to operate these as these would make great coast guard vessels under their new defense integration could double as rescue and supply to not only bases but communities up north while the military transport role could also be added to the obligation. This may require additional coast guard personnel hired but it may be easier to increase recruitment of civilians there as opposed to adding to the already difficult military recruitment numbers.
The Coast Guard is another option I considered! I decided not to include them, but it is an interesting idea!
Great article Noah!
I will continue to wish for the day that we have some sort of Sealift... Hopefully with ships big enough to lift a Battlegroup (Battalion + size)... Or at least a doctrinal Square combat team (which is much bigger than most folks realize). We might be going up to Division focus, but we still need to think about lift capacity in terms of discrete chunks/capabilities.
Combining with UK requirement seems like a good idea... Maybe we could even build a few under NSS? Otherwise, there's the option of adding a few RORO ferries to the Transport Canada requirement under NSS... & Making sure they are big enough to carry the aforementioned capability blocks.
As for crewing... RCN crew would be ideal, but CAF ownership/contracted crewing would probably be a reasonable compromise. Even DND ownes, you could probably set the contract such that the private operator can make profit driven runs when not required by RCN.
Yes I would love to have some version of something like a Canadian Mistral but I doubt that is happening for a number of reasons…. But a small fleet of Ro-Ro’s would be great…. Now doubt we have yard space to build them with everything else on the books or getting discused. Maybe this is a time to cut that deal with S Korea tobuild a small fleet (and probably very quickly). I would prefer we own & run them…I would hate to think the one time we need them that they are thousands of miles away. As Mathew said….there is our North to consider.
Yeah, part of the reason I advocate for some form of ownership at the least. It gives us more control and say over the vessels that doesnt come from leasing. Thats especially important during times of conflict to me.
Wouldn’t multiple smaller RO-ROs would provide greater flexibility and resiliency than a few (four?) larger RO-ROs?
I think that depends on exactly what we want, and how much we expect them to do? If you could get away with more numerous, smaller vessels than I see no reason why it shouldn't be investigated.
Four is my kinda minimum for Point-sized vessels. Theyre big and flexible enough to do a lot, and even if we might not need their whole capacity, having it available is nice.
However you can also make that argument with smaller, more numerous vessels.
Great article. Who do you think would build the RO-RO ships? Would it be built by a domestic shipyard, considering the unique capabilities like Arctic capability that we want, or would it be built in foreign yards in Korea or Europe, since we would want to have our domestic output focused on combat full-navel ships and ice breakers.
I'm pretty ignorant when it comes to Sealift operations and challenges so feel free to scoff at this suggestion. I was wondering if it would be possible for the Government to purchase those Ro/Ro ships and create a Crown Corporation to run it as a business (yes, I know there will be inefficiencies and lack of profitability). During peacetime they could be expected to shuttle commercial cargo with the stipulation that they would be required to be suborned for military sealift in the case of a national crisis/emergency? I feel the slow bleed of money would be worth the standby capability.
There's plenty of opportunity for a joint procurement effort... DND, TC, Marine Atlantic, and other respective operators. We could establish sealift capability, stabilize/expand ferry services across Canada (reserve surge capacity), and probably do it all domestically.
Question because I don’t know or haven’t heard, but will there be a role for the RCN Reserves to play in some sort of Fleet Reserve? If the MCDV’s were mainly reserve OPV’s and the new CDC is a warfighter, will they be as utilized by naval reserves? Or will there be an opportunity there for the reserves to focus on other non-combat platforms?