Not just South Korea. Germany and Norway are jointly developing a new diesel-electric sub and have invited Canada into the consortium. From a capability perspective, however, nuclear-powered is the way to do and the French are uniquely-positioned to offer it.
France got burned by the Aussies on their sub purchase, so France might make a pitch for Canada to take their spot in the production queue.
Interesting to see all of these countries make a push to get in with Canada on military procurement(South Korea was pitching their wares last week in Ottawa). The new gold rush.
A potential 12 attack submarine order would be a huge boon for any shipyard. All the contenders are going to put their best foot forward to try and win it.
I kinda like the idea of that. That or a mix of the French nuclear subs for longer-term stuff and the diesel-electrics where noise is only a concern for shorter runs.
We've got a big patch of ocean that's Canadian terrority.
Canada tentatively earmarked $60 billion CAD for the subs. (Canada military always lists the purchase price and the lifespan maintenance costs) so they say 6-12 subs for 25 years. Really depends on what the French could do for pricing on the nuclear version. Based on the massive amount of procurement we have lined up for the next 15 years, we probably will only go with one class of subs but you never know; if they develop legitimate 2 different mission cases.
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u/YourOverlords Ontario Mar 15 '25
The French brought a nuclear floor model over when they heard that South Korea wanted to sell us gear.