Province-class destroyer

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Province-class destroyer

Class Overview
Class Type	Air defence / Anti-submarine destroyer (DDG)
Class Name	Province
Launched	Possibly 2010
Preceded By	Iroquois-class
Succeeded By	N/A
Ships of the Class:

The Province-class destroyer is the name given by military observers and naval buffs to the expected replacement of the Canadian Forces' Iroquois-class destroyers. They would be somewhat larger than the existing Halifax-class frigate, equipped with a new radar system and SM-2 missiles in order to provide a wide-area air defence capability. As the Halifax class are named after Canadian cities, the suggestion was that the replacement for the Iroquois fleet would adopt the names of Canadian provinces. It is not clear whether such a class will be built, or skipped over in favor of a newer class replacing both the Iroquois and Halifax that will enter service at a later point in time under the Single Class Surface Combatant (SCSC) program.

Originally the Batch 2 Halifax-class ships, from HMCS Montreal on, were to have been stretched about 32' (~10 metres). It was speculated that the added space between the forward-mounted gun and bridgework would be used for a small Mk.41 VLS package with SM-2 missiles during the FELEX mid-life upgrade program.^[1] Budget cuts during delivery meant that the Batch 2 ships were instead delivered identical to the earlier examples, which means there is no room for any significant upgrade during FELEX.

The Navy had invested some effort in the European Active Phased Array Radar, leading observers to suggest that APAR and the associated SMART-L would equip the Province-class or upgraded Halifax's during the FELIX program. Upgrades to the existing fleet along this line would likely be difficult, however, as the APAR requires its own mast and might made the design top-heavy.^[2]

The Department of National Defence has not identified a procurement timeframe for the Iroquois replacements, although it has been reported that design work is underway and a project office and personnel have been assigned. The Iroquois are currently scheduled for retirement around 2010 after 40 years in service,^[3] which will leave the Canadian Navy with no area-wide air defence capabilities.