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Canada has declared its intention to acquire
15 surface combatant ships. Naval Group and Fincantieri proposed a joint offer
based on the FREMM. (Naval Group)
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By: Pierre Tran and Tom Kington
PARIS and ROME — Naval Group and Italian partner
Fincantieri have filed a joint bid based on the FREMM multimission frigate in
the Canadian tender for 15 warships, a spokesman for the French shipbuilder
said Friday.
“We submitted our offer yesterday,” the Naval Group
spokesman told Defense News.
The joint offer has “strong support” of the French and
Italian governments, the two companies said in a Dec. 1 joint statement.
That bid benefits from the FREMM frigate being
sea-proven, interoperable by NATO standards and available off the shelf, all of
which cuts stress on the Canadian budget, the spokesman said.
Announcement of that offer marks a turnaround for
Fincantieri, which previously objected to the way the tender was set up. The
Italian company was unhappy with the Canadian request that a large amount of
technical data about the frigate be handed over to the prime contractor, Irving
Shipbuilding, before a winner is chosen.
The statement on their joint bid, however, contains a
carefully worded paragraph stating that “transfer of technology” would go ahead
“should the offer be accepted.”
The declaration of interest hinged on technology transfer
in the event of victory, a Fincantieri spokesman said.
“It was unusual that the transfer of a large amount of technical
data to a private company was requested at the start of the procurement
procedure, before winning,” he said.
“Should the offer be accepted, the future frigates would
be built in Canada at Irving Shipbuilding in a very short time, maximizing
Canadian industrial participation and job creation locally through a dedicated
and comprehensive transfer of technology, as well as integrating Canadian
suppliers into the two companies’ global supply chains,” the two companies said
in the statement.
The international competition for the Canadian Surface
Combatant has sparked close interest and is seen as a test of European
industrial consolidation. France and Italy are in negotiations for closer ties
between Fincantieri and Naval Group, in an attempt to increase cross-border
cooperation.
The two companies and government officials are in talks
for a cross-shareholding of 10 percent in the partner firms and creation of a
joint venture to pursue export contracts for warships. A deal is expected to be
reached next year.
Naval Group and Fincantieri jointly designed and
developed the FREMM frigate, which sails with the French and Italian navies.
Prior to the FREMM, the two firms worked together on the Horizon, an
air-defense frigate with a higher level of common equipment than the former.
Original post: defensenews.com
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