Obi Wan Russell wrote:
Type 45 could easily be adapted to use a Mk41 VLS and American Standard missiles, it was the platform itself I was referring to. Canada's options are narrowing considerably at the moment because they have bbeen procrastinating for too long. The option to extend the current ships and helos is evaporating fast and talk of extending the Sea King fleet isn't really realistic anymore. The Merlin/Cormorant may have had teething problems but what new aircraft type doesn't? It is currently a very capable type and if it was as bad as you suggest then why have the Yanks chosen it to replace the President's VIP Sea Kings? Must have something going for it.
After the expensive disaster of the Chretien-era and the current support cost issues associated with the Cormorant, not to mention that ongoing S-92 order, Canada is unlikely ever to make another order for the EH101 - even for attrition replacements. From the American perspective, the US101 is an embarrassing and costly mistake that is unlikely ever to be repeated. Canada is committed to the S-92.
Obi Wan Russell wrote:
The type 45 costs seem high at the moment because the R&D fro the class was supposed to be spread over 12 ships and this has been cut back to six. Those six are bearing the whole of those costs and any additional units either foreign or domestic will come in noticeably cheaper. The T45s are designed to keep the running cost down and require less crew than a Burke class ship. Don't be so quick to rule them out.
Type 45 costs are high because the program is badly over budget and delayed, a situation which has been compounded by the selection of PAAMS - a system which both France and Italy have now abandoned for future procurement. Similarly, the RN saddled itself with the status of the sole user of the WR-21. It is now doubtful if either PAAMS or the WR-21 will obtain further sales, and it seems as if the 6 Type 45s will be very expensive to support as time passes. It isn't altogether impossible that the Type 45 might still see an export sale, but the Brunei fiasco, HMCS Chicoutimi fire, and ongoing delays and cost overruns with the RN's own Type 45s have undermined the credibility of the British shipbuilding sector from the Canadian standpoint. From the British perspective, the Type 45 is less of a disaster that the Nimrod MRA4, but that is about the best that can be said. If and when the Type 45 is well proven in service, the type will have been out of production for some time, and in reality, the Type 45 is no less risky than an entire bespoke, clean sheet of paper design.
I would think the Dutch or Germans
could manage such a build.
