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Replacing the Subs

Well yes, but no

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actually with strike drones this could work
 
It's a plane, it's a ship, it's a sub - and it's armoured and optionally manned.

 
Yes, but…

You need some very specific items to make things like comms, FCS, EO/IO items.

Heck even armor isn’t just RH steel anymore.
It takes several months to re-tool an auto assembly plant from one platform to another. No clue how long it would to re-tool from manufacturing automobiles to something completely different.

With increased automation, whether or not robots, comes increased reliance on chips and other critical components. We have off-shored most of that. If the balloons go up, where will we get them from and how will they get here?
 
It takes several months to re-tool an auto assembly plant from one platform to another. No clue how long it would to re-tool from manufacturing automobiles to something completely different.

With increased automation, whether or not robots, comes increased reliance on chips and other critical components. We have off-shored most of that. If the balloons go up, where will we get them from and how will they get here?
IIRC South Africa and Israel have found ways to arm themselves. I am sure we could do the same, provided the will was there.
 
IIRC South Africa and Israel have found ways to arm themselves. I am sure we could do the same, provided the will was there.
And that's the issue. It's probably better to have a fire extinguisher on the wall than run off to Canadian Tire when the fire starts. The politicians have no will because the voting public doesn't make them.
 

This class of submarines was acquired by Portugal to replace the previous submarines of the Albacora class, then being operated by the navy. Originally, HDW proposed the Type 209 submarine (U-209) during the competition, but decided to later enter a new proposal based on the Type 214. It is for this reason that the Tridente class is commonly designated as the U 209PN.

The Tridente-class submarines are wrongly classed in the "diesel-electric" class. Their propulsion is exclusively electric, with electric motors powered by batteries. These batteries may be charged while submerged by "fuel-cells" (inverse electrolysis) for which, this submarine carries a huge supply of liquid oxygen and hydrogen. Also, and solely as a second solution for recharging the batteries, this submarine carries two powerful diesel-electric generators (1,000 KVA) for use only when surfaced, or at snorkel depth.

TypeAttack submarine
Displacement
  • 1,700 tons (surfaced)
  • 2,020 tons (submerged)
Length67.7 m (222 ft 1 in)
Beam6.35 m (20 ft 10 in)
Draught6.6 m (21 ft 8 in)
PropulsionDiesel-electric, fuel cell AIP, low noise skew back propeller
Speed
  • 20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph) submerged
  • 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph) surfaced
  • 6 knots (11 km/h; 6.9 mph) AIP system
Range12,000 nmi (22,000 km; 14,000 mi) at 8 knots (15 km/h; 9.2 mph)
Endurance45 days
Test depthsuperior to 300 m (984 ft)
Capacity14
Complement
  • 7 officers
  • 10 petty officers
  • 16 enlisted
Sensors and
processing systems
  • Kelvin Hughes KH-1007 (F) navigation radar
  • Atlas Elektronik GmbH ISUS 90 combat management system
Armament
  • (8) 533 mm (21.0 in) torpedo tubes, (4) subHarpoon-capable
  • 12 × WASS Blackshark torpedo reloads

....

Back about the time of Challenge and Commitment there was an Italian offering under consideration. It too was a fuel-cell AIP vessel that relied on a supply of Liquid Oxygen and Hydrogen. The hull was made by coiling a pipe into a cylinder. This created a double hulled containment and the fuels were stored inside the pipe.

Probably the most publicized AIP development has been the Italian toroidal design.[1][2] This design by Maritalia provides a unique oxygen storage system for a small submarine that will have a toroidal, double-hull configuration. Although the 02 is held as a gas under pressure, the double-hull design provides a considerable storage capacity. The AIP exhaust is a major consideration and the Italian firm has not published details of its operation; the C02 exhaust is probably compressed for storage in the vacated 02 spaces or pumped overboard. The compression requirements reduce the efficiency of this system.

Two small submarines, a 120-ton craft launched in 1978 and an 80-ton craft launched in 1982, have previously tested the Maritalia system. A new, 157‘/2-foot submarine built for the Maritalia system will have some 40 mw-hours of usable energy for non-snorkel operation.

The Fincantieri shipyard is cooperating with Maritalia to design a toroidal submarine of some 300 tons that could serve as a larger technology demonstration craft. Details of the toroidal design are being closely held by Maritalia, but it seems highly questionable at this time if the system will successfully scale up to a propulsion plant for a full-scale submarine.




 
It takes several months to re-tool an auto assembly plant from one platform to another. No clue how long it would to re-tool from manufacturing automobiles to something completely different.

With increased automation, whether or not robots, comes increased reliance on chips and other critical components. We have off-shored most of that. If the balloons go up, where will we get them from and how will they get here?
We make Chips here in Canada both potato and micro. So that should not be much of a problem.
as for retooling plants, things can happen pretty quick if they need to. You can start off manufacturing the old way until the robots and such can be reprogrammed/ installed.
It might be time for Canada to look at what capability we currently have and what can we have going in a month or two.
 
It takes several months to re-tool an auto assembly plant from one platform to another. No clue how long it would to re-tool from manufacturing automobiles to something completely different.

With increased automation, whether or not robots, comes increased reliance on chips and other critical components. We have off-shored most of that. If the balloons go up, where will we get them from and how will they get here?
Mandatory turning in of everyone's frontload washing machines for the the chips....
 
We make Chips here in Canada both potato and micro. So that should not be much of a problem.
as for retooling plants, things can happen pretty quick if they need to. You can start off manufacturing the old way until the robots and such can be reprogrammed/ installed.
It might be time for Canada to look at what capability we currently have and what can we have going in a month or two.
So, what, when the world, particularly the automotive manufacturing stream, pretty much shut down during COVID because of a chip shortage, we could have solved everybody's problems but nobody asked? People really didn't have to take delivery of vehicles with functions not working because of a lack of chips? Who knew.

I'm not convinced we have sufficient domestic heavy manufacturing capacity or the supply stream, particularly steel, to rise to the occasion. I stand to be pleasantly surprised. Even with the few auto assembly plants we have, probably half are Canadian subsidiaries of offshore companies and I wonder if an emergent relationship has even been thought of.
 
. Even with the few auto assembly plants we have, probably half are Canadian subsidiaries of offshore companies and I wonder if an emergent relationship has even been thought of.
In a sudden emergency, it will be easy to take over existing plants run by hostile state actors. The challenge is with the automation, they could be remotely hacked and conduct self sabotage or just shut down.
 
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