Irving Shipbuilding has started construction on the production test module for the new fleet of Canadian Surface Combatants, which according to a Canadian government announcement will be known as River-class destroyers.
The PTM will enable testing and streamlining of the shipbuilding processes to gear up the project for full-rate production starting in 2025, according to a Canadian government statement. Irving Shipbuilding expects the delivery of the first warship in the early 2030s and the final vessel by 2050.
The CSC project has a current budget of between $41 billion and $44 billion for 15 warships, with all the required components for their design, construction and commissioning into service included in the cost.
The River-class destroyers are patterned after the Type 26 frigate design that BAE Systems is building for the United Kingdom and Australia. The warships feature upgraded underwater sensors and radar and modern weapons.
The shipbuilding project is Canada’s largest since World War II, Canadian National Defence Minister Bill Blair noted at the construction launch on Friday. “The River-class destroyers will provide the Canadian Armed Forces with the tools that they need to defend our national interests for decades to come and ensure that Canada can deploy a state-of-the-art, combat-ready fleet of warships to defend our country and support our allies,” he said.
During the ship construction launch, the names of the first three River-class destroyers were announced as His Majesty’s Canadian Ships Fraser, Saint-Laurent and Mackenzie in honor of similarly named Canadian warships with historic wartime records.