River-class destroyer (2030s)

A rendering of the Canadian Surface Combatant
Class overview
Name	River class
Builders	Irving Shipbuilding
Operators	Royal Canadian Navy
Preceded by	Halifax-class frigate Iroquois-class destroyer
Cost	Acquisition for 15 ships (construction, weapons, ammunition and spares included): $77.3 billion[1]
Built	2025–2050
In service	From early 2030s
Planned	15
General characteristics [2]
Type	Guided missile destroyer
Displacement	8,080 t (7,950 long tons) (standard)
Length	151.4 m (496 ft 9 in)
Beam	20.75 m (68 ft 1 in)
Draught	8 m (26 ft 3 in)
Propulsion	CODLOG: 2 × General Electric electric motors 1 × Rolls-Royce MT30 gas turbine 4 × Rolls-Royce MTU Type 20V 4000 M53B high-speed diesel generators L3Harris Integrated Platform Management System
Speed	27 knots (50 km/h; 31 mph)
Range	7,000 nmi (13,000 km; 8,100 mi)
Complement	210
Sensors & processing systems	Command and control Aegis Combat System with Canadian Tactical Interface[3] USN Cooperative Engagement Capability (sensor netting) Integrated Cyber Defence System OSI Maritime Systems Integrated Bridge and Navigation System L3Harris Internal and External Communication Suite[4] Surveillance & weapon sensors Lockheed Martin Canada AN/SPY-7(V)3[5][6] Solid State 3D AESA radar MDA Solid State AESA target illuminator X & S band navigation radars L3Harris WESCAM electro-optical and infrared systems Underwater warfare systems Towed sonar: Ultra Electronics TLFAS[7] (variable depth) Hull-mounted sonar: Ultra Electronics Sonar S2150[8]
Electronic warfare & decoys	Raytheon AN/SLQ-32(V)6 electronic warfare suite[3] BAE Systems Mk 53 Nulka decoy system[3] Ultra Electronics SEA SENTOR S21700 towed torpedo countermeasures General Dynamics Sonobuoy Processing System Expendable Acoustic Countermeasures
Armament	Missiles 2 × quad box launchers: 8 × Naval Strike Missile[2] Close-in air defence system RIM-116 Block II missiles (Launch from a 2 × 3-cell Lockheed Martin EXLS, or 2 × 21-cell Mk 49 GMLS) 1 × 24-cell Mk 41 VLS:[9] RIM-162 ESSM Block II[10] (quad-packed) RIM-66 SM-2 Block IIIC[11] BGM-109 Block V Torpedoes 2 × twin 324 mm (13 in) torpedo tubes (auto-loaded): Mk 54 Lightweight Torpedo Guns 1 × Leonardo OTO 127 mm (5 in)/64 LW Vulcano naval gun[12] with NA-30S MK-2 weapon control system[3] 2 × Leonardo Lionfish 30 mm (1.2 in) autocannons[13] 11 × 7.62 mm (0.300 in) C6 FLEX or 12.7 mm (0.50 in) M2 machine guns
Aircraft carried	Helicopters 1 × CH-148 Cyclone armed with: 2 × Mk 54 Lightweight Torpedo 1 × C6 FLEX 7.62 mm (0.300 in) general-purpose machine gun
Aviation facilities	Indal Technologies ASIST Large Chinook-capable flight deck Enclosed hangar Facilities for UAVs
Notes	Flexible mission bay Rolls-Royce Mission Bay Handling System Modular mission support capacity for sea containers and vehicles 2 × 9–12 m (30–39 ft) multi-role boats 1 × 9 m rescue boat

The River-class destroyer, formerly the Canadian Surface Combatant (CSC), and Single Class Surface Combatant Project is the procurement project that will replace the Iroquois and Halifax-class warships with up to 15 new ships beginning in the early 2030s as part of the National Shipbuilding Procurement Strategy.^[14][15]

At approximately 8,000 tonnes (7,900 long tons), the replacement vessels will have almost double the displacement of the existing Halifax-class frigates,^[16] and presumably provide a wide-area air defence capability, anti-submarine as well as anti-ship warfare capability. The design of these ships is currently underway, and both the total number of ships and their capability will be dependent on the budget that is allocated to the project. In 2017, a new defence policy framework, entitled Strong, Secure and Engaged, was unveiled which promised significantly greater resources for the Surface Combatant Project - i.e. in the range of $60 billion. By 2021, the Parliamentary Budget Officer estimated the cost for the program of 15 Type 26 ships as $77.3 billion, "rising to $79.7 billion if there is a one-year delay in the start of construction and $82.1 billion if there is a two-year delay".^[1]

In December 2017, the three submitted proposals were versions of the British Type 26 frigate design proposed by Lockheed Martin Canada and BAE Systems, the Dutch De Zeven Provinciën-class frigate-based design proposed by Alion Canada and Damen Group and the Spanish F-105 frigate design offered by Navantia.

On 19 October 2018, the Type 26 was selected as the "preferred design", and the government entered "into negotiations with the winning bidder to confirm it can deliver everything promised in the complex proposal."^[17][18] However, after Alion Canada, one of the failed bidders, began litigation in November 2018, the government was ordered to postpone any discussion of contracts until the investigation by the Canadian International Trade Tribunal was complete.^[19] The Trade Tribunal dismissed the complaint for lack of standing on 31 January 2019,^[20] and the Canadian government signed the $60 billion contract with the winning bidders on 8 February 2019.^[21] Alion appealed the decision to Federal Court, but discontinued its challenge in November 2019.^[22]