Future Canadian vessels to include SM-2

The US State Department has approved an FMS package for Canada worth an estimated $500 million, the Defense Security Cooperation Agency announced on 5 November. 

Raytheon is the prime contractor on the deal, which features 100 Standard Missile 2 (SM-2) Block IIIC missiles and 100 MK 13 Vertical Launch Systems modified to fire the SM-2 Block IIIC.

Also included are logistics support, obsolescence engineering and integration and test activities.

‘This proposed sale will provide Canada with SM-2 Block IIIC missiles for installation on its planned 15 Canadian Surface Combatant (CSC) ships, ensuring its ability to operate alongside U.S. and Allied naval forces against the full spectrum of naval threats,’ the DSCA noted.

According to Shephard Defence Insight, the CSC vessels will replace the existing Royal Canadian Navy Iroquois-class destroyers and Halifax-class frigates once these older ships are retired in the 2030s.

The CSC programme is expected to start in the early 2020s with the first ships  to be delivered by the end of the decade.

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