At CANSEC 2023, Vard Marine Inc. (VARD), a Fincantieri company, proudly launched VIGILANCE as their solution to replace the Royal Canadian Navy’s (RCN) Kingston Class Maritime Coastal Defence Vessels (MCDV) under Pillar Two of Canada’s National Shipbuilding Strategy (NSS). In conjunction with Team Vigilance partner companies Thales Canada, Ontario Shipyards, SH Defence, and Fincantieri, VIGILANCE will provide the RCN with a lightweight and operationally flexible military asset that is highly capable and globally deployable. VIGILANCE can perform all roles of the existing MCDV while fulfilling crucial naval warfare duties beyond the capabilities of both the MCDV and the Arctic and Offshore Patrol Vessels (AOPV), including in the littoral battlespace.
This collaboration ensures Team Vigilance can meet the needs of the Royal Canadian Navy’s future fleet with a tailored naval solution, striking the optimum balance between capability and cost, while also maintaining the life-cycle cost advantages VARD’s naval designs are known for.
As a part of the ongoing effort, Team Vigilance continues to assemble a broad coalition of Canadian companies that can offer important services and vital equipment to the program. Building a robust coalition is key to the core objective that VIGILANCE be designed in Canada, built in Canada, and equipped in Canada. To this end, Team Vigilance launched their Preferred Suppliers Program at DEFSEC 2023 in Halifax last October.
Five Southern Ontario Companies Become Preferred Suppliers to Team Vigilance
Today, Ontario Shipyards announced that FBT Inc., Guest Plumbing and HVAC, Scott’s Marine Interiors, Pinnacle Logistics Solutions Ltd., and The Coating Inspector have been named preferred suppliers to Team Vigilance. From precision machining and marine interior installation to logistics, HVAC services, and Coatings inspection, the addition of these five companies highlights the strength of the shipbuilding supply chain in Southern Ontario.
From Fort Erie to Burlington to Cambridge, the five newest Team Vigilance preferred suppliers exemplify the very best of the innovation and dedication that is the hallmark of the Southern Ontario industrial supply chain. Once the epicentre of shipbuilding in Canada, Ontario has the shipyard capacity and the industrial support network to be a shipbuilding leader in Canada. With the addition of these five outstanding examples of entrepreneurship and success, Team Vigilance grows in strength and ensures the participation of the local companies, the employees and the families that will help us build the next generation of Royal Canadian Navy vessels.
Not only will VIGILANCE provide the sailors of the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) and the Royal Canadian Naval Reserve the modern tools they need to protect Canada’s vital interests at home and abroad, but it will also allow them to continue to leverage the best that Canadian industry has to offer from Ontario companies in the industrial and manufacturing heartland of Canada. In doing so, VIGILANCE will play a key role in developing a true sovereign capability across all aspects of the shipbuilding value chain.
Shaun Padulo, CEO and President of Ontario Shipyards, said, “Ontario is the industrial heartland of this country, and our two Southern Ontario shipyards are in the centre of this wealth of industrial capacity and experience. Some of the companies we welcome to Team Vigilance today we have worked with for decades, and to add their weight to our team is a testament to the success of the entrepreneurs who embody the hard-working spirit we strive to emulate every day at the shipyard. We are truly honoured to welcome them into Team Vigilance, and we know our group is stronger and more capable because of it. This is just one more small but meaningful step to bringing shipbuilding back to Ontario once and for all.”