The Royal Canadian Navy admitted into service between 2000 and 20004 the four Victoria class submarines whose operational availability would hit the headlines. This became barely satisfactory from 2017, while the four boats will have to be injected at the beginning of the 2020s into a cycle of deep modernization: the program Victoria-class Modernization (VCM) which will allow them to remain in service until the mid-2030s, or even the beginning of the 2040s. The replacement of these ships could begin shortly.
Canadian submarines of the class Victoria are from the old class Upholder ou Type 2400 acquired from the United Kingdom in 1998. They are 70,3 meters long with a hull diameter of 7,6 meters and a draft of 5,4 meters. The surface displacement is 2256 tonnes compared to 2514 tonnes submerged. They can travel at 12 knots on the surface and 20 when diving. Their armament is based on six torpedo tubes and each ship carries up to 18 torpedoes. The rate of fire is one torpedo every 30 seconds for each tube. They are armed by a crew of 48 submariners. Operational autonomy is 56 days. The boats can travel 8000 nautical miles at 8 knots and dive up to 200 meters.
They benefited from maintenance work and treatment of obsolescence (Canadianization Work Period (CWP) carried out in the United Kingdom at the British naval base at Faslane in order to adapt them to the needs of the Canadian Navy and return them to active service. They returned to service being christened HMCS Victoria (2000), HMCS Corner Brook (2003), HMCS Windsor (2003) and HMCS Chicoutimi (2004 then 2015).
The navigation systems are based on GPS and two navigation radars: one Kelvin Hughes Type 1007 and a cell phone Forum both operating in band I. The inertial navigation units are provided by Northrop Grumman Sperry Marine who won the contract in 2005 by proposing the laser gyro inertial unit Mk 49.
The aerials carried by the massif are composed of the electro-optical surveillance periscope CK 35 (Thales) comprising a binocular optical system with an optical telemetry system; of the optronic attack periscope CH85 (Thales) equipped with a monocular optical system and an infrared system. A mast carries the Canadian communications systems, as well as the systems ESM AR-900 (Harris) and two countermeasure launchers SSE.
The sonar suite consists of a passive mid-frequency bow sonar Type 2040 (Thales) used for search and interception, low frequency passive side sonars Type 2007 (Thales) as well as a towed linear antenna Type 2046 (Thales) passive low frequency 50 meters long and of the same family as those installed on board the Type T nuclear attack submarines of the Royal Navy. Finally, towed sonar is added SQR-501 CANTASS (Canadian Towed Array Sonar).
The ability to fire anti-ship missiles UGM-84 Sub-Harpoon and to lay mines was disembarked from the four submarines. Lockheed Martin was chosen in order to integrate Librascope Submarine fire-control system (SFCS) which was supplemented by certain components of the fire control of the Oberon class submarines that the 4 Victorias were to replace within the Royal Canadian Navy. Each submarine was capable of launching wire-guided torpedoes Mk 48 Mod 4. It was decided in 2014 to replace them with Mk 48 Mod 7 AT.
The propulsion of the four submarines is based on two diesel-electric engines Paxman Valenta 16SZ (2 x 2,7 MW) and an electric motor Alsthom of 4 MW driving a single propeller shaft.
The expected lifespan of the four submarines of the class Victoria was 25 years in the Canadian Navy. They also benefited from two maintenance contracts called “ Victoria Class Submarine In-Service Support Contract » concluded with Babcock Canada. The first contract was signed in 2008 for the sum of 312,4 million euros and covered the support of the boats for 15 years, until 2023. The Victoria In-Service Support Contract II signed in May 2018 with the Canadian government for the sum of 240,5 million euros took over from the previous contract by pushing back its deadline from 2023 until the mid-2030s. These two contracts govern and schedule the outages major techniques or Extended Docking Work Period (EDWP).
The programme Victoria-class Modernization (VCM) – also called SELEX (Submarine Life Extension) – is complementary to the contract Victoria In-Service Support Contract II. The ambition is to obtain 10 years of additional operational potential to maintain the service Victoria. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau even mentioned an extension until the early 2040s. Without this, the first boat would have had to leave service in 2022 while the fourth would have been withdrawn in 2027. Victoria-class Modernization was preferred in 2017 to a program to replace the Victoria class submarines, in particular because it was considered much less expensive.
The budgetary envelope planned for this modernization is between 1 and 2 billion euros depending on the list of work to be carried out which will be finalized in 2021. The first operations involving the extension of the lifespan of the Victoria will begin in 2022, the first submarine coming out of the cycle VCM in 2025 or 2026. The program SELEX could lead to modernizing or even replacing all or part of the propulsion (diesel-electric engines, electric motor), the power systems, the sonar suite, the aerials, the communication systems and the combat system.