Why was Sea Ceptor dumped from Canadian Surface Combatant?

Originally the Canadian Surface Combatant program had the Sea Ceptor for Close-In Air Defence.  The missile was supposed to be key to protecting the 15 new warships that are going to cost Canadian taxpayers at least $80 billion.

Sea Ceptor, from the European consortium MBDA, is the next-generation, ship-based, all-weather, air defence weapon system. It was recently used in combat in the Red Sea to deal with drones.

The weapon system is now in full-scale development for the UK MOD as the principal air defence capability for the Royal Navy’s Type 23 and Type 26 frigates.

But for the CSC, Sea Ceptor is out and an American-made missile system is in. Canada has now selected the RIM-116 Rolling Airframe Missile (RAM) built by Raytheon.

In July, I asked the Royal Canadian Navy and National Defence why Sea Ceptor was dumped but didn’t receive an answer.

But there are reports that the RIM-116 will be cheaper as it is used by the US Navy and other navies.

Eventually National Defence did provide me an answer of sorts to my question. Department spokeswoman Andrée-Anne Poulin said Sea Ceptor was replaced “due to integration risk.”

No other explanation was provided.

The lack of explanation/information is typical of National Defence and the Canadian Forces lately.

As I have written for the Ottawa Citizen, National Defence has faced criticism over what some see as the growing secrecy over big-ticket military procurements.

Industry executives have previously pointed out that the secrecy is not based on security concerns, but on worries the news media and opposition MPs would be able to use the information to keep close tabs on the problem-plagued military procurement system.

 

PHOTO: The Sea Ceptor, from the European consortium MBDA, is a next-generation air defence weapon system.