Naval base gets sonar upgrade

State-of-the-art system to detect submarines worth $3.8 million

The capital region's military sector received another boost Wednesday with the announcement that a new $3.8-million facility will be built at CFB Esquimalt to maintain the navy's submarine-detecting sonar system.

The facility will replace an aging building where work on the Canadian Towed Array Sonar System -CANTASS -is carried out for use in patrol frigates and DDH-class destroyers.

"Because the facility will be newer and state of the art, there will be other functions they'll be able to do in the facility as well," said Capt. Craig Baines, base commander at CFB Esquimalt. "But the primary function of it will to maintain these towed-array systems."

Cheonan sinking stirs new interest in coastal submarines

US think-tank Forecast International says last year's torpedoing and sinking of the South Korean corvette Cheonan by a North Korean coastal submarine will prompt a surge of interest in small, low-cost submarines. 

“The corvette was specifically designed for operations in littoral waters and built with full knowledge of the threat spectrum she would face. Yet, she was blown in half by a torpedo she never saw coming. The force multiplier effect was clearly evident here,” the organiation says in a report on the market for submarines. 

“The Cheonan was designed to provide an economical asset for patrolling coastal waters, but the submarine used to sink her cost an order of magnitude less – and that submarine got away with her attack cold,” said warships analyst Stuart Slade, author of the report. “It is quite clear which was the most cost-effective asset in this particular scenario.”

South Korean Ship Sinking Stirs New Interest in Coastal Submarines

According to Forecast International’s “The Market for Submarines” analysis, the torpedoing and sinking of the South Korean corvette Cheonan in March 2010 by a North Korean coastal submarine will prompt a surge of interest in small, low-cost submarines.

The corvette was specifically designed for operations in littoral waters and built with full knowledge of the threat spectrum she would face. Yet, she was blown in half by a torpedo she never saw coming. The force multiplier effect was clearly evident here.

“The Cheonan was designed to provide an economical asset for patrolling coastal waters, but the submarine used to sink her cost an order of magnitude less – and that submarine got away with her attack cold,” said warships analyst Stuart Slade, author of the report. “It is quite clear which was the most cost-effective asset in this particular scenario.”