Halifax class frigate

The HMCS Ville de Quebec (FM 334), a Halifax-class frigate at sea.

The Halifax-class frigate is a class of multi-role patrol frigates that have served the Royal Canadian Navy since 1992, replacing the St. Laurent, Restigouche, Mackenzie, and Annapolis class destroyer escorts.

HMCS Halifax (FM C330) was the first of an eventual sixteen Canadian-designed and -built vessels which combine traditional anti-submarine capabilities with systems to deal with surface and air threats as well. The Halifax class are the workhorses of the Royal Canadian Navy, which deploys them extensively in task groups. The first thirteen vessels of the class are named after Canada's provincial and territorial capitals; the three remaining ships are named after the national capital, Ottawa, and two more major Canadian cities, Montreal and Vancouver. Every province and territory of Canada has at least one ship, with the three most populous provinces (Ontario, Quebec and British Columbia) having two each.

The HMCS Halifax was commissioned on August 3rd 1989 with the second ship, HMCS Toronto being commissioned on February 15th 1991. In 2009, the Halifax-class began an extensive modernization that would take approximately eighteen months for each ship.

Specifications

Original Configuration

• Role: Multirole Frigate
• Service Period: 1989-Present
• Characteristics:
  • Length: 472.12 feet (143.9 meters)
  • Width: 53.81 feet (16.4 meters)
  • Draft: 16.41 feet (5.0 meters)
  • Displacement: 5,450 tons
• Crew: 275
• Power: 91,600 shp
• Propulsion: 2 x Rolls-Royce MT30 gas turbines, 2 x Pratt and Whitney Canada PW150SV gas turbines, 2 x Vektris Engineering COGAS systems, 2 x shafts, controllable pitch propellers
• Range: 9,500 nautical miles
• Speed: 33.6 Knots (62.23 Kilometers/Hour; 38.67 Miles/Hour)
• Sensor Suite:
  • Raytheon SPS-49 C/D-Band Air Search RDF
  • Kelvin Hughes Type 1007 I-band RDF
  • Saab Sea Giraffe HC 150 G-Band Air/Surface Seach RDF
  • Signaal SPG-503 STIR 1.8 K/I-Band Fire Control RDF
  • AN/SQS-510 Hull-mounted variable depth ASDIC
  • AN/SQR-501 CANTASS Passive towed array ASDIC
• Countermeasures:
  • Sea Gnat
• Armament:
  • 1 x SRC 5”/62 Mark 45 Mod 4 naval gun
  • 2 x 32-cell Vertical Launch System (fires Sea Dart Mk.II AAMs, Thunderbolt AAMs, Storm Wind cruise missiles, and VL-Orca ASW missiles)
  • 2 x 4-cell Broadsword missile launchers
  • 1 x 30mm Phalanx CIWS
  • 2 x 12.75” triple fire torpedo tubes
  • 6 x M2 Browning 12.7mm machine guns
• Aircraft Carried: 1 x Westland Commando

FELEX Refit Configuration

• Role: Multirole Frigate
• Service Period: 1992 - Present
• Characteristics:
  • Length: 472.12 feet (143.9 meters)
  • Width: 53.81 feet (16.4 meters)
  • Draft: 16.41 feet (5.0 meters)
  • Displacement: 5,800 tons
• Crew: 275
• Power: 91,600 shp
• Propulsion: 2 x Rolls-Royce MT30 gas turbines, 2 x Pratt and Whitney Canada PW150SV gas turbines, 2 x Vektris Engineering COGAS systems, 2 x shafts, controllable pitch propellers
• Range: 9,500 nautical miles
• Speed: 33.6 Knots (62.23 Kilometers/Hour; 38.67 Miles/Hour)
• Sensor Suite:
  • ATI Technologies 9LV-Mk.5 Combat Management System
  • ATI Technologies AN/SQR-501 CANTASS II Passive ASDIC
  • ATI Technologies AN/SQS-510 Active ASDIC
  • Emerson Electric AN/SPQ-9B Gunire Control RDF
  • Raytheon Anschütz Pathfinder ST Mk.2 Ka-Band Navigation RDF
  • Raytheon AN/SPY-1F S-Band Air/Sea Search RDF
  • Saab CEROS 200 X-Band Fire Control RDF x 4
  • Thales S1850M L-Band Air Search RDF
  • Thales Sirius IRST
• Countermeasures:
  • Elisra M275 Electronic Warfare Suite
  • Rheinmetall Multi Ammunition Softkill System
  • AN/SLQ-49 Chaff Buoy Decoy System
• Armament:
  • 1 x SRC 5”/62 Mark 45 Mod 4 naval gun
  • 2 x 32-cell Vertical Launch System (fires Sea Dart Mk.II AAMs, Storm Wind cruise missiles, and VL-Orca ASW missiles)
  • 4 x 8-cell VLS (fires Thunderbolt AAMs)
  • 2 x 4-cell Broadsword missile launchers
  • 1 x 30mm Goalkeeper CIWS
  • 2 x 12.75” triple fire torpedo tubes
  • 6 x M2 Browning 12.7mm machine guns
• Aircraft Carried: 1 x BHI CH-148A Cyclone ASW helicopter

Unit Run

Royal Canadian Navy

• HMCS Halifax (FM C330)
• HMCS Toronto (FM C331)
• HMCS Victoria (FM C332)
• HMCS Edmonton (FM C333)
• HMCS Ville de Québec (FM C334)
• HMCS St. John’s (FM C335)
• HMCS Regina (FM C336)
• HMCS Winnipeg (FM C337)
• HMCS Charlottetown (FM C338)
• HMCS Whitehorse (FM C339)
• HMCS Yellowknife (FM C340)
• HMCS Fredericton (FM C341)
• HMCS Iqaluit (FM C342)
• HMCS Ottawa (FM C343)
• HMCS Montréal (FM C344)
• HMCS Kelowna (FM C345)