Canadian gov't wasted $12 million trying to get AIP for subs

[Ma Deuce]

Linky

Fuel cells for subs a $12m fizzle

By STEPHEN MAHER / Ottawa Bureau

OTTAWA - The navy paid a Canadian company more than $12 million to develop a high-tech fuel-cell propulsion system for its submarines, then shelved the project when the company lost interest.

Briefing notes obtained under the Access to Information Act show that the Defence Department invested the money through Ballard Power Systems, a Vancouver fuel-cell company, between 1983 and 1996.

The technology, called air-independent propulsion or AIP, allows diesel-electric submarines to stay underwater for weeks at a time. Without such a system, the submarines must rise to periscope depth every day or so to recharge their batteries, because their diesel engines can't run without being vented through a snorkel. A fuel-cell propulsion system produces no fumes.

The navy used the promise of such technology when it was trying to convince the government of Jean Chretien to buy four used subs from Britain in the 1990s, Defence Department briefing notes show.

The department told the defence minister the subs "will also enable Canada to increase her influence in Arctic waters with air-independent power when Canadian technology matures in the early part of the next century."

As climate change pushes back the ice in Canada's Arctic waters, commercial shipping companies are contemplating using the area as a shipping route. Politicians and defence experts are concerned with Canada's limited ability to conduct sovereignty patrols in those waters.

But the technology would never have allowed the subs to operate under the ice, the navy says, because the vessels wouldn't be able to break through to the surface in an emergency.

An AIP system, though, would have allowed the submarines to operate with less risk of detection, because they could stay underwater for much longer, and may have made it possible for the subs to operate more effectively on the fringes of the ice.

The Defence Department is not forthcoming about how much money it spent developing the project. Last week it provided a partial list of contracts that show only $2.6 million in spending on the project, but other documents obtained under Access to Information legislation show one contract alone was worth $5.1 million. And 1996 briefing notes for the minister report the navy had paid Ballard $12 million for research and development on the project, beginning in 1983. Industry Canada also lent the company $30 million.

Ballard developed a working 50-kilowatt prototype - an "exploratory development model" - for the Defence Department that it demonstrated in 1998. The company then lost interest in the project, as it moved into manufacturing fuel cells for automobiles, and declined to do any more work for Defence.

Earlier this year it delivered the prototype to a Defence Department research facility at the Royal Military College in Kingston, Ont.

As recently as 2002, the department was still sounding bullish about prospects for an AIP refit of the submarines - at a cost of hundreds of millions of dollars - but those plans are shelved.

The Defence Department had to pull back because Ballard pulled out, says Maj. Tony White.

"As I understand it, over time, Ballard started to get more interested in the car industry and whatnot, and they at some point said they were no longer interested in pursuing the submarine application, and as we lost our submarine partner, we have reduced our focus on AIP to simply keeping an eye on the market."

Canada is watching as other countries, including Sweden and Germany, outfit their subs with AIP technology.

HDW, the company that provided Germany with its subs, acquired several fuel-cell modules from Ballard in 1996 for $9.3 million.

The Canadian Defence Department had been paying Ballard to develop the technology for submarines since 1983. It no longer sounds very interested in the project.

"We're not as focused on AIP as we once were," Maj. White said.

Since Canada bought the four submarines from Britain in 1998, they have been plagued by a series of cost overruns, delays and technical faults, culminating in a fire aboard HMCS Chicoutimi this month that took the life of Lieut. Chris Saunders.

The other three subs are tied up until the inquest into the fire is complete.

No matter what happens, it's unlikely that they'll ever be rigged up with AIP, says Martin Shadwick, a political scientist at York University.

"Even if these four submarines are eventually given a clean bill of health, it would require a bit of an optimist to assume that there would be much political will or financial resources to cut them open and put air-independent propulsion on board," he said.

Converting the submarines to run on AIP would involve cutting the hulls open and a complex refit that would cost hundreds of millions of dollars.

It's terrible that the project has ended up being shelved, says David MacLeod, a former Ballard executive who helped land the Defence contracts for the company in the early 1990s.

"I still think it's recoverable, but it would require real focus," he said. "The window's just about shut, from what I can tell."

Mr. MacLeod, now with Tekion, another fuel-cell company, sees the project as a lost opportunity.

He says it reminds him of the Avro Arrow, a cutting-edge Canadian jet fighter that collapsed when the government of John Diefenbaker pulled financial support. Except, he doesn't blame the government for this one.

"In my world, I don't see DND as the bad guys at all," he said.

Ballard is prepared to revisit AIP "if DND would like to," said Steve Kukucha, the company's director of external affairs.

"But at the time we finished the prototype, we determined it would be best to move into other areas, from a corporate strategic perspective."

Although a lot of money was spent on what looks to be a dead-end project, it's hard to blame the military, says Mr. Shadwick.

"Was it an honest mistake or was it even a mistake?" he said. "If Ballard pulls out, it's hard to necessarily blame (DND)."

[Vympel]

$12 million? That's nowhere near enough to get anywhere near AIP for subs- that's just chump change. Every Tom Dick and Harry with an SSK would have AIP if it was anywhere close to $12 million, cost wise.

[Sea Skimmer]

$12 million? That's nowhere near enough to get anywhere near AIP for subs- that's just chump change. Every Tom Dick and Harry with an SSK would have AIP if it was anywhere close to $12 million, cost wise.

It was just money for research and development of a system, Canada developing its own system in the first place is stupid. The company probably lost interest because it knew the hundreds of millions that the system would cost would never be available in Canada's defence budget.

[Aaron]

But the technology would never have allowed the subs to operate under the ice, the navy says, because the vessels wouldn't be able to break through to the surface in an emergency.

There was an article in The Maple Leaf, a newspaper internal to DND, that stated the Victoria class was to be upgraded to function in the arctic.

If DND wanted AIP propulsion why didn't they contract the job out to a company that already makes it for SSK's? Not like the money would ever be available anyways.

[Howedar]

My aunt works for Ballard. They're a complete clusterfuck in every way.