The Joint Support Ship Programme
September 2006
Originally announced in April 2004 as the Afloat Logistics Sealift Capability (ALSC) project, the Joint Support Ship (JSS) has evolved into a program that will see the construction of three new multi-role support vessels for the Canadian Forces.
The vessels, of which the first is scheduled to enter service in 2012, will provide the Canadian Navy with a much-needed replacement of the now-37-year-old PROTECTEUR class auxiliary replenishment vessels. The PROTECTEUR class is nearing the end of its serviceable lifespan, with the HMCS PROTECTEUR finishing its final major refit of its operational life this year. The requirement for three vessels, instead of a one-for-one replacement of the current two vessel fleet, will provide the Navy with a much-needed “swing-vessel”, not seen since the decommissioning of the HMCS PROVIDER auxiliary replenishment vessel in the late 1990s, thereby permitting smooth operations when one of the new JSS vessels is in dry-dock.
In addition to performing the traditional duties of at-sea replenishment for Canadian naval task groups, the JSS fleet will also provide a sealift capability for the Canadian Army. Each vessel will be able to provide up to 1,400 lane metres of transport space, which can accommodate equipment for an army battle group of approximately 650 soldiers. Some military experts have criticized the combination of both replenishment and sealift into one platform. Peter T. Haydon of the Centre for Foreign Policy Studies at Dalhousie University aptly notes that, “The strategic concept for the new Joint Support Ship fails to address an overarching strategic question: Which is more important, a high-readiness fleet replenishment ship or a low-readiness Army cargo ship?”[1] There are active concerns in the naval community that when these ships are tasked with sealift duties, they may not be able to efficiently and effectively perform the primary duty of fleet replenishment-at-sea.
The JSS vessel will not be limited in its scope of capabilities by performing only fleet replenishment and sealift. The vessel will be configured to act as a Joint Task Force Headquarters (JTF HQ) for situations in which such a headquarters cannot be established onshore in a theatre for reasons of security, among others. The JSS will be equipped with an extensive medical suite, including an operating room, and can be configured to act as a field hospital. The JSS will also maintain its own detachment of three to four CYCLONE helicopters, as well as be able to support Army tactical and cargo helicopters in-theatre.
Each vessel itself will have a limited self-defence capability, albeit one that is substantially stronger than current PROTECTEUR class capabilities. The vessels are being designed to reduce crew complement, as currently required by the PROTECTEUR class, by 30% to 50%, and to maintain a maximum continuous speed of 21 knots/39 kph (compared to the PROTECTEUR’s 18 knots). At an economical speed of 15 knots, each vessel will have a range of 10,800 nautical miles (20,000 km – almost the width of Canada four times over). The vessel will also have a capability to operate in first-year Arctic ice, allowing it to support sovereignty operations in Canada’s North to a limited degree.
The first ship will enter service in 2012, with full capability by 2013 and it is expected that the final ship will be delivered by the end of 2016.
November 2006 update: Two consortiums have been selected as the final competitors for the JSS contract: ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems Canada Inc. and SNC-Lavalin ProFac Inc. Each team will receive a $12.5 million contract from the Government of Canada for project definition (i.e. to create their designs and schedule for building). In 2008, the team with the best project definition will be selected to build the JSS, with first to be delivered by 2012, as previously noted in this article.
Photo Credit: PMO JSS/Department of National Defence
Proposed Ship Capabilities
Source: PMO JSS
Ship Particulars
Crew Size: 165 ship’s crew; 76 air detachment; 95 mission personnel
Length/Beam/Draft (m): 210/28/9.5
Displacement: 28,000 tonnes
Speed: 21 knots sustained maximum
Range: 10,800 nautical miles at 15 knots
Survivability
Self Defence: Active & Passive
Damaged Stability: Enhanced Two Compartment
Ice Capability
First Year Ice: Yes
Sealift
Deck Space (inc. upper deck): 1,400 lane metres
Container System: up to 40 TEU containers stored externally between RAS posts
Jetty Independence: Yes
Underway Support
Fuel: 7,000 to 10,000 tonnes
JP 5 (aviation fuel): 650 to 1,300 tonnes
Ammunition: 1,100 square metres
Joint HQ Support
Naval Communications: Yes
Shore Communications: Yes
Notes:
[1] Peter T. Haydon. “Canadian Naval Future: A Necessary Long-Term Planning Framework.” Canadian Naval Future – IRPP Working Paper number 2004-12, November 2004.
Canadas JSS project in trouble – Page 3 – World Affairs Board http://www.worldaffairsboard.com/naval-forces/44720-canadas-jss-project-trouble-3.html#post501270
June 1st, 2008 at 4:12 pm[...] System: up to 40 TEU containers stored externally between RAS posts *Jetty Independence: Yes The Joint Support Ship Programme | cdnmilitary.ca The JSS is an AOR with sealift capabilities to transport equipment for a battle group of 650 [...]
Stephen Lister
December 7th, 2008 at 11:05 pmabout time the military gets something they need to do the job, but its only a start…
karl
December 24th, 2008 at 3:33 amWhat’s happennig with the helicopters seems to be happening all over again with the replenishing vessels. I guess we’ll never get them.
Chretien was in power for a decade and single handedly destroyed the military.1-In 1993, cancelled the helicopters for the military + paid a penalty of 0.5Billion.(let just throw 8 new helicopter in the ocean). Then, in about 1996 the Huron destroyer had a major refit only to be parked and then later sunk as an artificial reefs. Destroyer fleet is now 25% smaller. Can someone tell me what happen to the new armed icebreaker???
Scott http://www.cdnmilitary.ca
December 24th, 2008 at 1:33 pmThe AOPVs are still in the development stages, so it’ll be a couple of years before any construction contract is let, and that’s only if the Government can recover quickly from the economic crisis and its associated deficits, in my opinion. If there’s continued large deficits, we’re going to be back in the 1994 situation when Chretien started cutting the heart out of the Canadian Forces to reduce the national deficit. Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that, of course.
Mr. T. http://Sosad
March 7th, 2009 at 12:10 amThese things aren’t even on the drawing board yet, and they say 2012 as a delivery date. What about our ice strengthened frigates. Hogwash. The army runs the forces, and the only reason the navy is getting anything is because the army thinks they want to have the same capability as the US. They don’t even consider arming these vessels properly, or getting more frigates. Because of politics these ships won’t even get air cover let alone an escort up north. They have to get a fighter from Bagotville to protect a ship at sea. By the time the fighter arrives on scene, it has to turn around and go back to Quebec. Once upon a time before the Liberals and Chretien, a fighter could have returned to Chatham NB before politics moved All our Eastern Canadian air defence to Quebec. Every time the Air Force or the Navy get anything, it’s to service the Army and their many many many many Generals. They wanted heavy lift cargo planes for the Army and got them, but no increase in fighter strength to escort them. They wanted helos to transport the Army, and they got some with more on the way, and they are probably using most of them to transport and impress the Americans instead of transporting Canadians. We have been borrowing for so long, it is pay back time. Meanwhile the Navy operates 1960 vintage Sea Kings which should have been replaced in 1980. If the army can’t fly off these new ships in a new Chinook they won’t fly off in a Sea King, that’s for sure. The heck with anti air defence or anti submarine defence. The Generals have no concept, no history, no interest, in Naval or Air Warfare. Put them on a ship at sea with no escort, no weapons, and no fighter cover, and once they lose their first brigade to 1 bomb or one torpedo, they will have learnt what all the Navies and Air Forces, and sound thinking Armies of the world have known since the first Capital ship was sunk by a biplane after WW1.