Canada awards River-class destroyer construction contract to Irving Shipbuilding

Canada awarded a construction contract for the first RCDs, shown here in a rendering. (Royal Canadian Navy)

Canada recently awarded Irving Shipbuilding (ISI) a contract with an initial value of CAD8 billion (USD5.5 billion) for the construction and delivery of the first three River-class Destroyers (RCDs), the Canadian government confirmed on 8 March.

The contract is meant to fund the first years of construction, and also the development and delivery of necessary training, spares, and maintenance products required to operate and support the ships in service, the government said in a release.

Canada estimates the cost to build and deliver the first three ships at CAD22.2 billion, including ship construction, as well as costs associated with the delivery of equipment, systems, and ammunition that Canada will be acquiring to bring the three ships into service, according to the release.

The RCD is based on BAE Systems' Type 26 warship design being built by the UK and a variant of which is being built for Australia as the Hunter-class frigate.The River-class ships will replace the four retired Iroquois-class destroyers and the 12 Halifax-class frigates with a single combat-capable ship designed to meet multiple threats on both the open ocean and in the littorals.

For more information about the development of some of the River-class systems, please seeFMS deal funds continued Aegis design and integration for Canada .

The first three ships are scheduled to be named Fraser, Saint-Laurent, and Mackenzie, after Canada's waterways that reach the Pacific, Atlantic, and Arctic oceans.