Canada Seeks Overseas Sales of Naval Combat System

VICTORIA Lockheed Martin is eyeing future sales in South America and Europe for the naval combat system it designed as part of the modernization program for Canada's frigates.

Work is underway on the first export sale of the combat management system to the Royal New Zealand Navy, with installation in the first frigate to begin here in 2016, according to Lockheed Martin Canada officials.

That CAN $180 million (US $165 million) contract was awarded in May for the modernization of two Anzac-class frigates.

 Canada Seeks Overseas Sales of Naval Combat System

But the company is also targeting other markets for the naval combat management system, said Don McClure, Lockheed Martin Canada's vice president of business development. "There is a number of opportunities in both South America and Europe that we have identified and we have been meeting with those navies in recent months."

We discuss details due to commercial competitive reasons.

But he did confirm that the company is also examining a potential bid on a program to modernize Greece's Meko200 frigates. Greece has decided to modernize the four German-designed ships as part of a mid-life upgrade to extend their service life to around 2030.

The Meko200, called the Hydra-class by Greece, is also the basis for New Zealand's Anzac-class frigates. Similar ships are also operated by Australia, Turkey, Portugal, South Africa and Algeria.

Lockheed Martin Canada sees nations operating such ships as potential future markets.

But the company has to first carefully examine the Greek program. "We're interested in that and there's obviously a process we go through internally in determining what their requirements are and what we're prepared to offer is enough to give us a significant probability of winning," he explained. "So we're in the middle of that process right now."

That process to unfold over the next year as more information becomes available from Greece on what it is looking for in its modernization.

Defense analyst Martin Shadwick said pursuing modernization programs for Meko ships makes sense for Lockheed Martin Canada. "They've had success with their first contract with New Zealand and there are a fair number of Mekos out there in various navies," who teaches strategic studies at York University in Toronto. "Meko would be a logical one to concentrate on first."

But Shadwick said Lockheed Martin Canada need not be confined to just that class as its proven and affordable combat management system could be attractive to other navies and other ship classes.

Canada is upgrading its Halifax-class frigates in a $5 billion program that involves both the modernization of its combat systems, including weapons and radars, as well as a mid-life ship refit program. Lockheed Martin Canada is overseeing the main project to upgrade the combat systems, with the final ship modernization to be finished around 2017.

Lockheed Martin Canada designed its combat management system as an affordable solution for the international market, company officials noted.

Work on the New Zealand ships will be done at the Seaspan shipyards in Victoria, B.C. noted that Seaspan has already worked on the modernization of five of the Halifax-class frigates.