It has been a long time since anything positive could be said in regard to the future outlook for any branch of the Canadian Armed Forces.However, when looking to the potential future fleet of the Royal Canadian Navy, there is room for some extremely cautious optimism.Since its peak in the aftermath of the Second World War, when Canada could boast about having the third largest navy in the world, the RCN's fleet has faced a consistent and gradual shrinkage.At the time of writing, the fleet of the Royal Canadian Navy consists of 42 ships, including four submarines, a dozen frigates, a handful of coastal defence vessels, and six relatively new Arctic patrol ships.Of all the ships in the entire navy, only the Harry Dewolf-class Arctic patrol ships have been built post-2010, with most of the other ships having been built in the 80s or 90s.This is a testament to the neglect that the navy, as well as the rest of the armed forces, has faced from subsequent governments since the end of the Cold War..But if reports from DND and military insiders can be believed, and if the procurement promises that the government has made are fulfilled, Canada may once again have a navy that she can be proud of.In the next 20 or so years it is not impossible that Canada may have a navy that could rank in the top ten in the world for gross tonnage.The first major part of this build up is the expected acquisition of 15 River-class destroyers, warships that will give Canada a modern and capable destroyer for the first time in decades..The River-class is based on the British Type 26 ships but will have a larger range of armaments when compared to the version used by the Royal Navy.The first ships of this class are expected to enter service in the early 2030s, which will allow for the gradual decommissioning of Halifax-class frigates as the Rivers enter into service.In addition to the reinstatement of destroyers into the Canadian fleet, the RCN will also acquire up to a dozen Type 212CD attack submarines, built by German shipbuilder ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems.These submarines are expected to enter service around the same time as the River-class destroyers, with the first submarine expected to enter service by 2034.The acquisition will not only give Canada the tenth largest submarine fleet in the world when compared to current numbers but will also allow for the decommissioning of the trouble-plagued Victoria-class subs..The Victoria-class subs were purchased secondhand by Canada from the British in the early 2000s and have been much maligned for their constant need for refitting and maintenance.The initial price for the subs will be around $24 billion, with the total lifetime cost of the subs being estimated to be over $100 billion, marking the single largest defence procurement in Canadian history.The acquisition of a dozen attack submarines would give Canada never-before-seen defensive capabilities when it comes to combatting potential incursions into its territorial waters.The acquisition of 15 destroyers and a dozen submarines alone marks a massive change in naval policy for Canada, but it's expected that this won't be the extent of Canada's future naval procurement.It is expected that the RCN will procure around 16 to 20 coverettes to replace the aging Kingston-class patrol vessels.This project, dubbed the Continental-class Corvette, seeks to replace the Kingston-class with a Halifax-class-level Corvette that is able to guard Canada's territorial waters and, with a proposed ice-strengthened hull, be able to operate in the near-Arctic.Even if only the minimum amount is procured, this would give the RCN an much-needed boost to its continental defence plans, with the small Kingston-class vessels currently requiring the much larger Halifax-class to support them in adequately patrolling Canada's territorial waters..It has also been rumoured that Canada is looking into acquiring multiple "Arctic Mobile Bases," basically large transport ships that would be able to transport troops, supplies, and vehicles to the North, although these plans are currently in the exploratory and conceptual phase at the time of writing..With all these new vessels, it is also expected Canada will acquire at least a few more supply ships, likely the Protecteur-class the navy is currently using, as well as a handful of training and policing vessels.All together this would give Canada a navy that is not only able to protect its own territorial waters but also give Canada the ability to actually project power beyond our own domain.With a fleet this size, Canada would finally, for a country with the world's longest coastline, have a navy befitting of our geography and ambition on the world stage..However, as with any Canadian military procurement projection, optimism must be tapered.Canada has a long and storied history with broken promises and uncompleted projects when it comes to military procurement, so, apart from the confirmed acquisitions of the River-class destroyers and the new submarine fleet, caution should supersede over optimism.This doesn't mean that none of the proposed projects will actually come to fruition, but a proposal, a rumour, or an "exploratory study" should not be taken as confirmation of future procurement.But if this potential fleet were to be realized, it would give Canada not only a capable and modern navy for the first time since the Cold War but also real hard power on the global stage for the first time in its modern history.
