Navy ponders concept of Canadian-built amphibious landing ship for Arctic operations | CBC News

Politics A U.S. navy MH-60S Knighthawk helicopter sits with its rotors folded on the flight deck of the amphibious assault ship USS Iwo Jima while the vessel is docked in Ponce, Puerto Rico, on Dec. 17. In Canada, preliminary discussions have taken place between naval planners and two of the country’s shipyards about creating an amphibious landing ship for Far North operations.(Eva Marie Uzcategui/Reuters) Vice-Admiral Angus Topshee, commander of the Royal Canadian Navy, is shown on-board HMCS Margaret Brooke, in Antarctica in March.(Sam Martin/CBC) Navy ponders concept of Canadian-built amphibious landing ship for Arctic operations Canada's defence establishment entering an era of bigger ambitions and budgets The commander of the Royal Canadian Navy is floating the idea of an ice-capable amphibious landing ship to move troops and equipment around the country’s Arctic - and perhaps elsewhere. But Vice-Admiral Angus Topshee is quick not to get his hopes up - and has even, occasionally, taken pains to downplay it. At various times, Topshee has described the notion as “a conceptual thing" and even told a podcaster last fall that it is “a thought exercise” - part of the imagining that’s going on as the navy and the defence establishment writ large wraps their heads around an era of bigger ambitions and bigger budgets. However, it is a conceptual thing that’s been the subject of preliminary conversations between naval planners and two of the country’s shipyards: Davie Shipyard in Lévis, Que., and Seaspan in Vancouver. Both are already building the Canadian Coast Guard’s new icebreaker fleet . Each of the companies have notional ideas - even proposals - that could be modified to create an all-Canadian designed-and-built landing ship for Far North operations. “We talked to a couple of our shipbuilders, and they've said that theoretically a Polar Class 2 amphibious ship would be possible,” Topshee said in a year-end interview with CBC News. “The key value proposition of an amphibious ship is it can deliver capability from sea to shore without prepared port infrastructure, and that describes our North perfectly." In theory, that means one big ice-capable ship that carries both smaller landing craft (likely hovercraft) and helicopters. A number of Canada’s allies operate such ships. The difference is almost none of them are built for northern operations. New funding will allow military to dream big Going into 2026, it’s widely anticipated that the federal Liberal government will deliver a new defence policy at some point. The reset is something Prime Minister Mark Carney promised when he announced in June that Canada would meet NATO’s spending target of two per cent of GDP by the end of this budget year. Topshee said the concept could feed into a defence policy review. Canada is committed to spending up to five per cent of its gross domestic product (3.5 per cent directly on the military and 1.5 per cent on defence infrastructure) - or roughly $150 billion annually. The move will take place over the next 10 years but will be reviewed in...

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