Countries with aging frigates are putting Canadian and Victoria-based contractors on the go-to list now that Canada’s navy is showcasing the latest in technology and weapon systems.

The first of two New Zealand navy frigates slated for modernization is expected to arrive in Victoria in mid-2016, contingent on a contract being finalized this year.

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Each New Zealand ship will create 100 shipyard jobs for six months. Work on the second vessel would probably wrap up in early 2018, Malcolm Barker, general manager at Victoria Shipyards, said Tuesday.

Work completed on Canada’s frigates is providing opportunities for contracts from international clients. Barker said Victoria Shipyard has shown it can complete complex technology upgrades with a skilled workforce.

Globally, there are about 40 aging frigates in navies that do not have large shipbuilding capabilities, Barker said. “They are all about the same age and they are all looking to get the same thing done.”

Canada’s frigate life-extension program covers 12 Halifax-class frigates. New combat systems are being installed under prime contractor Lockheed Martin Canada. Victoria Shipyards, working with Lockheed Martin, has been upgrading five frigates, one after another, at the Esquimalt Graving Dock. A team of about 30 Lockheed Martin Victoria-based staff are working with the yard on installation, tests and trials for those vessels.

HMCS Calgary was the first frigate modernized. HMCS Regina will be the final frigate, finished in 2016 in time for the first New Zealand ship. Canada’s other seven frigates are being modernized by Irving Shipbuilding in Nova Scotia.

Winning international work expands the scope and stability for Canadian shipyards, which struggled to survive for decades after the Second World War.

Large Canadian shipyards on the west and east coasts are being bolstered these days by federal government contracts, which include replacing many of the nation’s navy and Coast Guard vessels. The work is jump-starting skills training and education in technology, management and ship building as well as providing business opportunities for Canadian firms.

While Lockheed Martin won’t talk about all the international work it is chasing, company officials did visit Greece late last year to discuss modernizing frigates, said Don McClure, vice-president of business development for Lockheed Martin Canada.

The success of the combat system the company designed for the Halifax-class vessels is making waves. “It does take us to a new level and all of the international contracts help us stabilize the workforce and grow,” McClure said. The company has 800 employees in Canada.

Lockheed Martin signed a $180-million contract last May to supply the combat equipment to modernize New Zealand’s Te Kaha and Te Mana Anzac-class frigates. The firm has since contracted Seaspan, owner of Victoria Shipyards, and ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems Australia, to perform an analysis of ship combat system installation details and the cost.

If all goes as planned, a contract with New Zealand for the combat system installation will be signed later this year.

Combat systems are produced by Lockheed Martin in Ottawa, with the bulk of the software and integration work carried out in Halifax, McClure said. Other systems, including radar and data links, are provided by other suppliers.

At this time, Lockheed Martin is a little more than six months into the original design contract with New Zealand. The Sea Ceptor missile is going in the New Zealand vessels. Canadian frigates have an enhanced Sea Sparrow missile system.