The Canadian government has officially signed a contract with Irving Shipbuilding and the BAE Systems-Lockheed Martin team for the construction of Canada’s future surface combatants.

The contract was signed on February 7 after the BAE Systems’ Type 26 Global Combat Ship design was selected in October 2018.

Negotiations between the government and Irving Shipbuilder as prime contractor and the BAE-Lockheed team were completed even as CSC contender Alion Science challenged the decision in federal court.

Alion urged the court to determine whether the Type 26 design met the government’s requirements. One of the reasons for this claim was the fact that the government said only existing designs of ships already in service would be considered. The first Type 26 frigate is still under construction in the UK and is expected to take to the sea in 2023.

Following Alion’s challenge, the Canadian International Trade Tribunal in December 2018 gave the government green light to award the warship contract to BAE Systems and Lockheed Martin.

First Type 26 CSC contract

While the overall project is valued at between CA$56 and $60 billion, the initial contract with Irving Shipbuilding is valued at $185 million (including taxes) and will increase as design work progresses.

Construction on the Canadian Surface Combatants is scheduled to begin in the early 2020s.

Lockheed Martin Canada’s winning bid includes BAE Systems, CAE, L3 Technologies, MDA and Ultra Electronics Maritime Systems.

A total of 15 Canadian Surface Combatants will be built to replace Canada’s Iroquois-class destroyers and Halifax-class frigates.

“Our government is providing the Royal Canadian Navy with the ships it needs to do its important work of protecting Canadians,” Carla Qualtrough, minister of public services and procurement and accessibility, commented. “This procurement process for Canada’s future fleet of Canadian Surface Combatants was conducted in an open, fair and transparent manner that yielded the best ship design, and design team, to meet our needs for many years to come.”