Thales selected by Canada to Provide In-Service Support for Royal Canadian Navy Minor Warships and Auxiliary Vessels

• The Royal Canadian Navy’s (RCN) fleet of Minor Warships and Auxiliary Vessels (MWAV) includes about 100 vessels from 24 different classes, including the Kingston-class Maritime Coastal Defence Vessels, Orca-class training vessels, tugs, dive tenders, research vessels, range vessels, and auxiliary support vessels.
• The Group will leverage its most recent experience supporting the Arctic and Offshore Patrol Ships, and its vast network of Canadian partners and suppliers.
• This $450 million CAD (approximately 305m€) contract will advance Thales’ role as a vital ​ partner to Canada under the National Shipbuilding Strategy, building on almost 60 years of Canadian in-service support (ISS). ​

Thales today announces that the Government of Canada – as set out by Canadian Prime Minister, The Right Honourable Justin Trudeau during the NATO Summit in Latvia – has awarded to Thales Canada and Thales Australia in joint venture an ISS contract for MWAV.

This contract will ensure the fleet remains operationally fit and includes the flexibility to increase or reduce the number of vessels serviced in response to the RCN’s ever changing operational needs, including Operation REASSURANCE, Canada’s largest overseas mission to NATO assurance and deterrence in Central and Eastern Europe. It includes an initial service period of five years for up to $450 million CAD (approx. €305 million) with additional one-year options to extend services for up to nineteen years in total.

Thales also provides ISS to Canada’s Arctic and Offshore Patrol Ships (AOPS) and Joint Support Ships (JSS), known as AJISS. Thales thus becomes the leading ISS provider to the RCN, entrusted to ensure mission-readiness and availability of 26 classes and more than 100 vessels.

Thales is committed to Canada and to empowering Canadian industry to support naval ISS for decades to come. This contract relies on Thales’ strong expertise in digital technologies, such as AI, big data, connectivity and cybersecurity, to update and optimize the fleet. Together with AJISS, the addition of MWAV to the Thales portfolio will enable skills development and the creation of thousands of jobs across hundreds of Canadian suppliers of all sizes. ​

To build a sustainable domestic ISS sector that drives continuous capability, Thales is collaborating with Indigenous businesses and communities like the Malahat Nation, start-ups, academia, Canada’s innovation superclusters and small and medium-sized businesses through programs like AI@Centech, SYNERGY, Naval Technology Innovation Challenges, and its new National Digital Excellence Centre.

“Thales is committed to serving those who serve, and to playing a vital role in fulfilling the promise of the National Shipbuilding Strategy. We are driven to leverage the know-how we have brought to Canada from Australia, and the experience we’ve developed under AJISS. We embrace the potential for even more collaboration across Canada’s diverse and talent-rich innovation ecosystems to create capability, transform naval in-service support and deliver both value and excellence to the RCN,” Chris Pogue, CEO Thales Canada