Canadian warship rearms in Australia, a 'significant' milestone for deployed frigates, DND says
CTV
A Royal Canadian Navy warship was rearmed with missiles and munitions in Australia this week, marking the first ever overseas rearmament for the service's Halifax-class frigates.
A Royal Canadian Navy warship was rearmed with missiles and munitions in Australia this week, marking the first ever overseas rearmament for the service's Halifax-class frigates.
HMCS Vancouver, which deployed to the Indo-Pacific region earlier this year, was rearmed in the northwestern Australian port of Broome on Monday, the culmination of what the Department of National Defence described as nine months of planning.
The rearmament is a demonstration of Canada's efforts to promote greater interoperability with its allies and could allow for longer combat-ready deployments in the region.
"Having the capability to rearm far from a Canadian homeport is a significant achievement," the department said in a statement Thursday, noting its co-ordination with the Australians on the rearmament plan began in January.
A National Defence spokesperson said in an email the rearmament is first for a Canadian frigate outside of Canadian or American territorial waters.
The ammunition for the rearmament was loaded aboard a Royal Canadian Air Force CC-177 Globemaster and flown to an Australian military base in Darwin, where it was stored pending the ship's arrival, according to the statement.
The Australian air force and civilian contractors then transported the munitions more than 1,000 kilometres to Broome, where they were loaded onto the frigate.
