Arctic/Offshore Patrol Ship AOPS

[Navy_Pete]

Not sure if you have ever seen the oilfield modules they make out West, it is pretty awesome to see the precision of module built off site. Transported umpteen hundred kms, Then reassembled. It is awesome. Modern design is so amazing.

The whole industrial engineering field is pretty interesting; it's fascinating to see things scaled up for production, plus all the tweaks (like the lean six sigma type programs) where they are shaving off the redundant steps is really interesting to dive into.

Not sure if I'd feel much of a sense of accomplishment with getting a widget made 0.35% more efficiently, but would be more hands on then fighting through procurements, internal business processes etc to get things done in DND. Even contributing to something that makes a genuine difference is pretty abstract when all you are doing is emails and forms. I really miss getting my hands dirty and crawling around places to figure out how to keep it running.

 

[Underway]

Not sure if I'd feel much of a sense of accomplishment with getting a widget made 0.35% more efficiently, but would be more hands on then fighting through procurements, internal business processes etc to get things done in DND. Even contributing to something that makes a genuine difference is pretty abstract when all you are doing is emails and forms. I really miss getting my hands dirty and crawling around places to figure out how to keep it running.

That 0.35% saves 0.35% dollars per widget which in a production line can work out to quite a bit of money when you're producing a million widgets. It's the small efficiencies that make the big result. Just like in workups. Those small fixes across the team shave minutes off of evolutions.

I get it regarding the dirty hand's bit. I'm lucky right now that I get to play around in the design space. It's all virtual but virtual lego is still uses the same brain parts as actual lego...

 

[Czech_pivo]

Interesting, this article talks about the RCN's AOPS being used for SAR in the Arctic.....I know that in a time of an emergency that would be the case, an 'all hands on deck' situation but I'm not certain that the RCN is taking on SAR per se.

"Beginning in 2021 the Royal Canadian Navy will start deploying its new Arctic Offshore Patrol Ships of the Harry Dewolf class to the Canadian Arctic. Those ships are equipped with a helicopter as well as a rigid inflatable boat. They will be a major addition to the Coast Guard’s existing search and rescue capability."

Strengthening Canada's Arctic Search and Rescue Capabilities

Residents of the Canadian Arctic are painfully aware of climate change and more specifically global...

www.maritime-executive.com

 

[Good2Golf]

All CAF assets have a SAR mission, some primary, some secondary. It’s not a stretch really.

 

[Navy_Pete]

That 0.35% saves 0.35% dollars per widget which in a production line can work out to quite a bit of money when you're producing a million widgets. It's the small efficiencies that make the big result. Just like in workups. Those small fixes across the team shave minutes off of evolutions.

I get it regarding the dirty hand's bit. I'm lucky right now that I get to play around in the design space. It's all virtual but virtual lego is still uses the same brain parts as actual lego...

Yeah; one of those things I understand intellectually, but actually joined the Navy instead when my job prospects were doing things exactly like that in the plastic processing industry. Really interesting to look at, just not sure I'd want to do it as a career.

Hope to end up at one of the PMOs eventually; nice to be involved tangentially from the Matrix but agree that part is pretty fun.

 

[YZT580]

All CAF assets have a SAR mission, some primary, some secondary. It’s not a stretch really.

Considering the flight time with the new aircraft from Trenton, having a platform with a deployable helicopter sitting on deck would definitely be an asset that would be called upon. Of course it would depend upon relative positioning as to whom to send but you can be sure that Trenton would be making best use of whatever was available. And don't just think cruise ships. There are still numerous light aircraft that make the European trek via the north

 

[Colin Parkinson]

New video of the HDW breaking ice

 

[Oldgateboatdriver]

That's not ice. That's slush: most of it is barely one meter thick!

Just kidding: Awesome.

 

[YZT580]

can't be doing the paint any good but it is good to see that it looks like we are getting what we paid for.

 

[Colin Parkinson]

Dockside propulsion tests on HMCS Margaret Brooke

https://twitter.com/x/status/1374070226623459329

 

[Gorgo]

Are the crew for Margaret Brooke being mustered now?

 

[Underway]

Are the crew for Margaret Brooke being mustered now?

Most of the leadership positions and supply positions should already have been filled at least a year ago.

 

[Weinie]

Most of the leadership positions and supply positions should already have been filled at least a year ago.

Is it a two and a half or a three ringer commanding?

 

[Cronicbny]

Is it a two and a half or a three ringer commanding?

Cdr. Cdr Michele Tessier is the current CO. Incumbent this APS is Cdr Nicole Robichaud

 

[Underway]

HDW CO is also getting a new CO this APS. I'm not sure the name but he sailed with her during the ice trials.

 

[Cronicbny]

HDW CO is also getting a new CO this APS. I'm not sure the name but he sailed with her during the ice trials.

Cdr Collin Forsberg - MT 21

 

[Halifax Tar]

Cdr. Cdr Michele Tessier is the current CO. Incumbent this APS is Cdr Nicole Robichaud

My former XO on FRE. MB is a lucky ship. She is an exceptional leader.

 

[Underway]

I have met Cdr Tessier a couple of times. She's very approachable and is a good ambassador for the RCN. It's unfortunate that she won't be able to sail the MB before her replacement takes over. Did all the ice navigation training and won't be able to apply it in practice.

 

[Loachman]

Considering the flight time with the new aircraft from Trenton, having a platform with a deployable helicopter sitting on deck would definitely be an asset that would be called upon. Of course it would depend upon relative positioning as to whom to send but you can be sure that Trenton would be making best use of whatever was available. And don't just think cruise ships. There are still numerous light aircraft that make the European trek via the north

The Arctic is much bigger than people realize.

Neither ships nor helicopters go very far very fast.

Refuelling sites can be very far between, and caches may not have been tested recently enough.

Weather can be harsh, preventing flight and causing more things to break.

It took six weeks to get two Griffons from Borden to Alert a few years ago, between weather delays, breakages (a windscreen and a tail rotor blade), and minor things that would not normally be of significance except where available seats and cargo space on commercial aircraft can be hard to come by (and sometimes only one or the other, ie a seat is available for a tech in three days but no cargo space for tools and parts for over a week more). It's a bit annoying to find, once the box labelled "Windscreen, Left-Hand" arrives and is opened, only to find that it contains a "Windscreen, Right-Hand", and it tales six days to get the right one to the tiny gravel strip in the middle of nowhere and then, once work begins, it turns out that the six tubes of PRC sealant required turn out to be not the large size but the small size (not enough), and then, when everything's finally finished, a possible hairline crack in a tail rotor blade is detected on next morning's walkaround.

Those two crews were lucky. There was a hangar, fuel, and a "hotel" with a telephone available.

Many/most places are just a short gravel strip with no facilities at all, and the nearest community can be several miles away. In another case in one of those locations (another windscreen that cracked just after take-off), the local Ranger patrol had to guard the machine against polar bear attacks until the weather improved enough. Once the repair had been made (a tarp had to be secured across the windscreen so that a Herman-Nelson heater could warm everything up for the PRC to cure for a day), it was still a few days until we could get fuel flown in from the other side of James Bay by a commercial Twin Otter, which required several trips that had to be worked in around higher priorities. Then there were more weather delays...

And both of these cases happened in summer. Winter is not so easy.

See Rescue at the top of the world - Skies Mag and Ordeal in the Arctic - Wikipedia for another tragic illustration of Arctic reality.

 

[daftandbarmy]

The Arctic is much bigger than people realize.

Neither ships nor helicopters go very far very fast.

Refuelling sites can be very far between, and caches may not have been tested recently enough.

Weather can be harsh, preventing flight and causing more things to break.

It took six weeks to get two Griffons from Borden to Alert a few years ago, between weather delays, breakages (a windscreen and a tail rotor blade), and minor things that would not normally be of significance except where available seats and cargo space on commercial aircraft can be hard to come by (and sometimes only one or the other, ie a seat is available for a tech in three days but no cargo space for tools and parts for over a week more). It's a bit annoying to find, once the box labelled "Windscreen, Left-Hand" arrives and is opened, only to find that it contains a "Windscreen, Right-Hand", and it tales six days to get the right one to the tiny gravel strip in the middle of nowhere and then, once work begins, it turns out that the six tubes of PRC sealant required turn out to be not the large size but the small size (not enough), and then, when everything's finally finished, a possible hairline crack in a tail rotor blade is detected on next morning's walkaround.

Those two crews were lucky. There was a hangar, fuel, and a "hotel" with a telephone available.

Many/most places are just a short gravel strip with no facilities at all, and the nearest community can be several miles away. In another case in one of those locations (another windscreen that cracked just after take-off), the local Ranger patrol had to guard the machine against polar bear attacks until the weather improved enough. Once the repair had been made (a tarp had to be secured across the windscreen so that a Herman-Nelson heater could warm everything up for the PRC to cure for a day), it was still a few days until we could get fuel flown in from the other side of James Bay by a commercial Twin Otter, which required several trips that had to be worked in around higher priorities. Then there were more weather delays...

And both of these cases happened in summer. Winter is not so easy.

See Rescue at the top of the world - Skies Mag and Ordeal in the Arctic - Wikipedia for another tragic illustration of Arctic reality.

Tangentially, a RUSI article on Canadian Arctic Airspace stuff:

With the onset of global warming, more and more of Canada’s north is becoming open and accessible due to the “melt.” At the current rate of warming, the Northwest Passage and other routes will soon be waterways open all year. More sea lane traffic will result and with that comes the possibility of accidents and the need for rapid northern search and rescue response, both from the sea and the air. In this article however, we are not going to discuss the sea issues around our northern landmass as this will be dealt with in another RUSI(NS) paper later this fall in the Canadian Naval Review. What we wish to discuss here is what is happening overhead – our airspace. Newly launched satellites providing total coverage of the north is a tremendous technological advance and as a result, more and more air traffic will result as domestic and foreign carriers will transit our northern airspace to cut time and costs on their overseas routes. RUSI(S) is currently looking at air aspects of our northern sovereignty and this short primer will address some, not all, of the issues with respect to the airspace over Canada’s north coupled with a need for robust search and rescue resources.

The Canadian North - Airspace, Surveillance, Air Traffic Control, Search & Rescue

RUSI(NS) primer describing the Canadian North: air and water space, surveillance, air traffic control, and search & rescue.

rusi-ns.ca

https://rusi-ns.ca/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/The_Canadian_North.pdf