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Those in industry thinking there would be a major announcement on the Canadian Surface Combatant Monday came away somewhat disappointed.

In late February, Public Services and Procurement Canada announced they were looking at buying an off-the-shelf design for the country’s main future warship.

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Lisa Campbell, assistant deputy minister for acquisitions at Public Services and Procurement Canada, explained the process at the time to Defence Watch: “That eliminates a lot of technical risk and will get us to building ships sooner.”

On Monday Public Services Minister Judy Foote announced her department would proceed with that plan and select from an existing warship design.

For industry that changes little. Companies had already been told this was the case and were proceeding accordingly.

The change is estimated to reduce the time to acquire the surface combatant by about two years, Foote said. “The new approach significantly reduces the design and technical integration time,” she said at the news conference.