Morning’ folks! I’ve been enjoying this forum for awhile now as a guest, but finally worked up the nerve to try participating. I’m not an RCN member, but I worked for DND years ago as a civvie and have had a great deal of admiration for the CAF ever since. I’m fascinated by the sea and ships, so I have a particular enthusiasm for the Navy. Please bear with me when I post and I promise to treat all feedback with respect and gratitude.
I’ve been thinking about AOR’s lately, and I think there’s a legitimate place for ASTERIX (and hopefully OBELIX) after/if PRE/PRO are built.
Given that the ASTERIX isn’t necessarily the best choice for contested waters, I see it as being an interesting platform for deployment on OP CARIBBE, for example. It has multiple RHIBs, a flight deck for an observation helo, room for the LEDETS and can RAS USCGCs to boot. It would also be close at hand for any of the frequent humanitarian missions that crop up in the Caribbean. It would also keep the MCDV’s closer to home and be able to take over their role on OP CARIBBE once they start getting decommissioned in another 10 years or so. In many ways, the ASTERIX could be seen as a better tool for the job than an MCDV. Not trying to diminish what they’ve accomplished, though.
There’s also the possibility of tasking it over to NATO for X number of months annually, to use as they see fit. Sort of like the C-17’s that are shared by several European countries but are made available to NATO as required. Canada could reap a lot of goodwill from that sort of an offer. After all, if Trudeau’s sock diplomacy is having an impact, think of how far Oiler diplomacy can carry us?
