Canada's navy will mothball half of its fleet of 12 Atlantic, Pacific and Arctic coastal patrol vessels due to a lack of funding, a navy spokesman said Thursday.
The navy's fiscal 2010-2011 budget is "sufficient to support six Kingston class vessels at standard readiness," Lieutenant Gabriel Rousseau told AFP.
The rest of the fleet will remain moored at the ports of Halifax, Nova Scotia and Esquimalt, British Columbia.
Choices made to protect key operations "resulted in specific capability reductions in our fleet," Rousseau explained.
"Upon close examination of resources and priorities, this was deemed necessary to safeguard and optimize our operational capability, both now and in the future."
All twelve vessels were commissioned from 1996 to 1999.
The daily Ottawa Citizen earlier reported, citing an April 23 letter sent to naval formations by Vice Admiral Dean McFadden, that patrols would be scaled back and combat systems on two frigates and a destroyer would be "minimally supported to enable safe to navigate sensors and communications only."
Missile defense systems and some anti-submarine warfare capabilities would also not be supported, the letter reportedly said.
Canada is the second largest country in the world with a 243,791-kilometer (151,485-mile) coastline. Its navy is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year.
The government has vowed to spend billions of dollars over the coming decades to modernize the fleet, including on new submarine capabilities.
But the procurement plan has yet to be finalized, Rousseau said. And it does not include spending on day-to-day operations.
Defense Minister Peter MacKay told reporters the navy had received an additional 200 million Canadian dollars (196 million US) this year and "got an increase as well last year" in its operational budget.
"We are investing historic amounts of money, more money ever in the history of the navy," he said.
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