OTTAWA - The federal government has put off asking shipbuilders for ideas on the construction of a flotilla of Arctic patrol boats, a sign that the two-year-old program is in trouble.
The navy's project management office advised the defence industry on June 10th that the long-anticipated letters of intent had been delayed.
"The extent of the delay is unknown at this time," said the note obtained by The Canadian Press.
The navy's project office describes the postponement as a "glitch," but the officer in charge, navy Capt. Eric Bramwell, declined to explain what the holdup might be.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced in July 2007 that the navy would acquire six to eight ice-capable vessels for nearly year-round operation in the Arctic. The announcement was a cornerstone of the Conservatives' northern strategy
At the time, the proposal was a step back from the 2005-06 Tory election promise to build three armed, heavy icebreakers to enforce Canada's northern sovereignty.
The Conservatives have said the Arctic is a priority as competition for boundaries and resources with other nations, particularly Russia, intensifies. But the heavy cost has increasingly given them pause.
A National Defence estimate last year pegged the annual operating expense of Arctic military operations at $843-million, excluding capital purchases, such as the patrol boats.
As the patrol vessel plan went through the definition phase, the capabilities of the ships were scaled back from the original Conservative proposal in order to stay within the original $3.1-billion budget.
The navy now envisions purchasing just six Class 5 ice-cutting ships and arming them with 25-mm cannons -- the same calibre carried on the army's light armoured vehicles -- as opposed to larger 40-mm weapons.
The ships will also be slower than originally planned and have less cargo capacity.
Despite that, Bramwell says the navy is happy with the look of the ship that's on the drawing board.
"We've been working the issue with our requirement colleagues to keep an eye on affordability," he said.
Cmdr. Dave Soule, who's overseen the ships' development, said a lot of attention has been paid to the smaller gun, which critics suggested turns the warship into nothing more than glorified police boat.
"We've looked at what other navies do for the kinds of missions these ships would be employed," Soule said in an interview Tuesday. "That calibre of gun is suitable."
He said many of the operations envisaged would be in support of domestic operations by other government departments; security and other non-military type threats.
"Those generally tend to be not like a warfare situation."
Defence experts are troubled that the capabilities have been "watered down" and say there is little difference between these ships and the coast guard, the traditional home of the country's icebreaking fleet.
Ken Bowring, an analyst with the Navy League of Canada, described the gun as a "peashooter" and says the symbolism of what it means for the Arctic, especially with a resurgent Russia is hard to miss.
"There are ships out there, other nations; what kind of resolve does it show? How much importance to they put on the Arctic when you put something up there that's got nothing on it?" Bowring asked.
"It's important to have something that shows your resolve."
He said the Conservatives have been trying to shoehorn their purchases into a pre-arranged budget rather picking equipment that makes sense.
"As Canadian citizens, our government should decide what it needs to do the job and then budget accordingly, not pick a budget and then look to see what you can get," said Bowring.
"If this happens, we will wind up spending billions of dollars on ships that can't do the jobs we need, or not have enough of them to job when and where we need it."
