Fincantieri, Naval Group Join Race for Canadian Combat Ship Tender

Fincantieri-Naval Group are bidding for the Canadian Navy's surface combatant ship procurement program competing against Lockheed Martin-BAE Systems and Navantia-Saab who are in the race to supply next-generation ships.

Under the country's National Shipbuilding Procurement Strategy, a $38.3 billion program to renew the aging fleets of the Royal Canadian Navy and Canadian Coast Guard are to be replaced with newer ships including 15 front-line surface combatant ships equipped with missiles, artillery and brimming with the latest in electronics.

Fincantieri-Naval Group are backed by the governments of France and Italy. The team is offering the FREMM frigate used by the French Navy and exported to Egypt.

"Should the offer be accepted, the future frigates would be built in Canada at Irving Shipbuilding in a very short time, maximizing Canadian Industrial participation and job creation locally through a dedicated and comprehensive transfer of technology, as well as integrating Canadian suppliers into the two companies' global supply chains," Fincantieri said.

The FREMM frigate is a multi-role vessel capable of anti-air warfare, anti-surface warfare, anti-submarine, and land attack and command ship missions. The vessel comes in two variants -- general purpose and anti-submarine warfare variants.