Continental Defence Corvette

[Colin Parkinson]

AOPS carry around 50000 liters of JP5. Hfx Class around 60.

What? You don't like having drums of Jet B lashed to your deck?

 

[SeaKingTacco]

Okay, not a naval expert, but could you use underwater sensors and XLUUV/UUV to detect foreign submarines and communicate that info to the CDC's?

Yup. It is called “data link”.

 

[GR66]

Okay, not a naval expert, but could you use underwater sensors and XLUUV/UUV to detect foreign submarines and communicate that info to the CDC's?

And what does the CDC do with that information if it has no ASW helicopter to attack the submarine? ASROC? Do you want to get that close to the sub? P-8? Might be an option off the coast of Vancouver Island or the Gulf of St-Lawrence, but what would be the response time to get up to the ice edge? Or is the plan to provide persistent top cover to the CDC's up there?

 

[Cloud Cover]

And what does the CDC do with that information if it has no ASW helicopter to attack the submarine? ASROC? Do you want to get that close to the sub? P-8? Might be an option off the coast of Vancouver Island or the Gulf of St-Lawrence, but what would be the response time to get up to the ice edge? Or is the plan to provide persistent top cover to the CDC's up there?

We don’t know. I don’t think CRCN knows, even though the whole thing is his idea.
We don’t and won’t have a big enough navy to build single purpose or limited purpose combatants.

 

[suffolkowner]

Okay, not a naval expert, but could you use underwater sensors and XLUUV/UUV to detect foreign submarines and communicate that info to the CDC's?

does it need to go underwater? Could it be an unmanned surface vessel?

 

[Oldgateboatdriver]

does it need to go underwater? Could it be an unmanned surface vessel?

No. Yes.

And what does the CDC do with that information if it has no ASW helicopter to attack the submarine?

Calls for help from someone or thing that can carry out the kill , and steers the hell away from the threat in the meantime.

 

[Kirkhill]

So a Mk48 torpedo weighs 1676 kg
It is a tube 5.8 m long and 0.53 m in diameter.
Two of them weigh 3352 kg or 3.352 tonnes.

Apparently a block of styrofoam 5.663 m3 (5.663 m x 1 m x 1 m) will support a load of 5 tonnes.

That would allow 1.65 tonnes of residual buoyancy for structure, propulsion, electronics and ancillaries.

Take two aluminum tubes of 6m length and 0.53 m diameter. Lay them side by side and weld them together. There is your core rigid structure. Insert in a mold and layer on the polyfoam. Sculpt to final form and coat.

Add necessary propulsion and steering gear, comms gear, fuel and a tank of compressed air.

Insert a Mk 48 into each tube.

.....

How Polycraft makes their boats.

.....


The Rattler USV, an autonomous RIB being tested and deployed by the RN as part of its Bastion strategy. It conducted a 500 mile escort mission the length of Britain while controlled from land.

Inside the Royal Navy’s “Rattler” Revolution: Uncrewed Vessels Escort Warships from 500 Miles Away

Royal Navy tests “Rattler” uncrewed vessels in a milestone sea trial, escorting warships from 500 miles away in a step toward a Hybrid Navy.

dronelife.com

.....

The Excalibur XLUUV, an autonomous sub with novel navigation systems on board that was recently tested in British waters while being controlled from Australia.

Quantum technology trialled on Royal Navy uncrewed submarine XV Excalibur

Quantum technology was deployed on an uncrewed submarine in a milestone trial for the Royal Navy.

www.royalnavy.mod.uk

AUKUS exercise sees Royal Navy uncrewed submarine controlled from across the world

The Royal Navy successfully tested the ability to communicate with Experimental Vessel (XV) Excalibur, the Royal Navy’s Extra Large Uncrewed Underwater Vehicle (XLUUV), while submerged on the other side of the world.

www.royalnavy.mod.uk

 

[Kirkhill]

 

[Furniture]

I served on the IREs and Mackenzie Class. Those ships were about the same dimensions and tonnage as the CDC specs.

Let me tell you, a helo deck and hangar would come in handy even without an embarked air det.

Money is not the issue anymore. It’s all borrowed anyway and it will never be paid back. We can either borrow and give it to Ukraine or to the CAF. I know which options I favour.

Handy isn't the same as necessary, and money spent there is money not available to be spent where it is needed.

Borrowed money or not, it adds an opportunity cost. Every dollar spent on an unnecessary hangar is a dollar not spent on needed things, like training, personnel costs, or spares to keep the ships running.

The hangar is useful for more than aircraft. Maybe garage with a helo deck is a better term.
And I’m not talking about square dancing either. A dry place to assemble, sort kit, bring VERTREP supplies by hand truck, hold debris taken from crash sites or interesting stuff found floating in the ocean, store extra zodiacs, store HADR or remote site supplies, conceal embarked special mission kit and equipment you don’t want the bad guys to see. All kinds of stuff that a ship like that might easily be tasked to do.

You don't need a hangar kitted out for sustaining an air det at sea for those tasks. A multi-mission bay for UAVs, smaller and cheaper than a MH hangar, is more than enough for the task. Nobody has argued against a big(ish) bay for those sorts of uses...

And what does the CDC do with that information if it has no ASW helicopter to attack the submarine? ASROC? Do you want to get that close to the sub? P-8? Might be an option off the coast of Vancouver Island or the Gulf of St-Lawrence, but what would be the response time to get up to the ice edge? Or is the plan to provide persistent top cover to the CDC's up there?

You are aware that the idea is to not blindly stumble into submarines right? The CDC isnt going to be tasked to just "go find subs" without other int sources backing the mission, and the appropriate support also added for the task. This isn't 1942...

 

[SeaKingTacco]

And what does the CDC do with that information if it has no ASW helicopter to attack the submarine? ASROC? Do you want to get that close to the sub? P-8? Might be an option off the coast of Vancouver Island or the Gulf of St-Lawrence, but what would be the response time to get up to the ice edge? Or is the plan to provide persistent top cover to the CDC's up there?

How about this thing?

Pardon Our Interruption

Or ASROC.

 

[Kirkhill]

The next step up from Rattler sized USVs.

Bigger Than Most Patrol Boats: US Launches 48-Meter Unmanned Vessel

Florida’s Magnet Defense has rolled out a 48-meter unmanned surface vessel built for long-duration missions beyond typical warship limits.

thedefensepost.com

4x Mk70 PDS launchers

16x SM6 or
16x Tomahawk MST or
16x ASROCs or
64x ESSM

 

[Kirkhill]

ZeroUSV cuts first aluminium on first-of-class Oceanus17 USV - European Security & Defence

ZeroUSV announced on 8 December 2025 that it has started construction of the Oceanus17: a new large, ultra-long-distance, high-payload USV.

euro-sd.com

ZERO USV is a new uncrewed surface vessel (USV) – the 12 metre Oceanus12 class

Zero USV is a new collaboration bringing more than 50 years’ experience into a unique new class of uncrewed surface vessels (USVs) – the 12 metre Oceanus12 class.

www.zerousv.com

Oceanus vessels are being considered for Bastion.