Warship designs delayed again

OTTAWA — Federal procurement officials are playing down the impact of yet another delay in the competition to design new warships for the navy, saying the extra time will help produce a better result.

The design competition is the most recent phase in the $60-billion plan to build 15 new warships, construction of which is expected to begin in 2021.

Defence companies were originally supposed to have submitted their proposed designs for the vessels in April, but the deadline has since been pushed back several times.

Lisa Campbell, head of military procurement at Public Services and Procurement Canada, said officials are aiming to have the ship designs arrive in mid-November, though an exact date hasn’t been set.

The delay was necessary, she said, to ensure all the participating companies understood what was expected of them, which will ensure a level playing field and maximize the number of bids.

The comments underscore the confusion — and high stakes — that have surrounded the design competition, which involves many of the world’s largest defence and shipbuilding companies.

Campbell said the government is changing the way it evaluates the proposed designs, and will tell companies if their submissions don’t meet the government’s requirements.

There have long been concerns, including within the Department of National Defence, that any delay in the design competition will push the whole project off schedule. That could result in higher construction costs and affect the navy’s ability to do its job. The navy is operating with fewer ships after retiring its three destroyers without replacements.

The government likely won’t be able to select the winning design until 2018, Campbell acknowledged, “but we still anticipate ship construction in the early 2020s.”