Amphibious Assault Ship Project

rdf:langString Amphibious Assault Ship Project

rdf:langString The Amphibious Assault Ship Project was a proposed procurement project by the Government of Canada for the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN). However, no such project was incorporated into the Government's defence plan released in 2017 and cost challenges with other naval procurement projects under the National Shipbuilding Procurement Strategy has led to no movement on the idea. This idea came about as part of the development of the Joint Support Ship Project of the Royal Canadian Navy and the need to improve the strategic sealift and amphibious assault capability of the Canadian Forces. Many of the capabilities required for strategic sealift were to be included in the Joint Support Ship Project, however, a dedicated amphibious assault ship was favoured by some, such as then Chief of the Defence Staff Rick Hillier. By late 2008, the project appeared to have been placed on hold, if not cancelled. By 2013 the project was again being discussed as the result of a proposal made by the Thales (DCNS) to provide the Mistral-class amphibious assault ship design. In mid-2014, both DCNS and SNC Lavalin offered three ships at a cost CAD$2.6 billion (2 billion euro). SNC Lavalin proposed to construct the vessels, while DCNS would design them and STX France would consolidate the hulls for arctic operations. The Royal Canadian Navy also trained with the French Navy on a Thales-built amphibious assault ship. However, the project was abandoned due to budget constraints.