On May 23rd, 2026, a warship departed the Korean Peninsula and traveled 14,000 km across the Pacific Ocean. It wasn’t responding to a threat. It was crossing the Pacific to deliver a message. The “Dosson Ancho“, a KSS3 class submarine belonging to the Republic of Korea Navy and constructed by Hana Ocean at its GOJ shipyard pulled into Canadian Forces Base Essimalt just outside Victoria, British Columbia.
The trip was one of the longest submarine transits in recent history, undertaken solely to make a defence procurement demonstration to Canada. Sailors from the Royal Canadian Navy came aboard, walked through its compartments and had the opportunity to sail on a submarine that is already in active service, already rolling off the production line and already cleared for operations by a NATO comparable allied navy.
This is the submarine Hanwa Ocean is proposing to build 12 for the Royal Canadian Navy under the Canadian patrol submarine procurement project. The arrival of the Dosen Ancho at Eskimalt was the most audacious act of salesmanship Canadian defence procurement has ever witnessed. No competing bidder has ever sailed a fully operational warship across the Pacific simply to demonstrate to Canada that the product exists. And it arrived right in the heart of a competition now entering its final stretch with a decision expected before the end of June 2026.
Germany is the other country bidding to supply subs to Canada and had included in its offer for type 212 CD subs by 2036, an estimated $86 billion in GDP impact, 654,000 job years, hypersonic missile facilities, torpedo factories, and investment in the port of Churchill.
A KPMG assessment commissioned by Hanwa found that between 2026 and 2044, the Korean bid would generate 60 billion Canadian dollars in economic opportunities, sustain an average of 22,500 full-time jobs annually, and produce $94 billion Canadian dollars in GDP impact across the country.
Germany’s bid, promises Canadians $86 billion in GDP impact, 654,000 job years over the life of the agreement, and $160 billion in total economic activity. They specifically include localizing key underwater warfare and sustainment capabilities in Canada with maintenance, repair, and overhaul facilities on both the Pacific and Atlantic coasts, as well as training centers, technology transfer, domestic production, and supply chain integration.
Now consider what the KSS3 actually represents as a platform because the technical comparison between it and the German type 212 CD is one of the most difficult questions Ottawa faces in this procurement. The KSS3 Batch 2 is the world’s first diesel electric submarine to combine both an air independent propulsion system and lithium ion battery technology in a production model. Its AIP system uses liquid oxygen and a closed cycle diesel, enabling extended submerged operations without the need to snorkel. Its lithium ion battery system draws on the same technology being supplied by Panasonic Energy in Kansas, Frontier Lithium in Ontario, and E3 lithium in Alberta.
This combination of AIP lithium ion batteries gives the KSS3 an underwater endurance profile that the manufacturer claims is superior for extended range and persistence across all of Canada’s oceanenvironments. The submarine also features advanced acoustic stealth, a sophisticated combat system compatible with Western Alliance sensors and communications, and a weapon suite that includes heavy torpedoes and anti-ship cruise missiles.
The Dausan ancho, the specific vessel that arrived at Essimalt, is the lead boat of the KSS3 class, commissioned in 2021 and now 5 years into active service. Hanwa presents this operational experience as a significant risk differentiator. When a Navy takes delivery of a KSS3, it receives a submarine whose design has been validated through fleet service, whose maintenance procedures are established, and whose performance characteristics are documented, not just extrapolated from a test program.
The Type 212 CD is also in production and has been handed over to Allied navies, but in smaller numbers and with a comparatively limited production history relative to the KSS3’s operational track record. The Canadian Global Affairs Institute has noted that Canada’s current Victoria class submarines are an orphan class.
No other Navy operates them, which means the Royal Canadian Navy must independently source or fabricate parts whenever something fails. The lesson is evident. Canada must select a platform backed by resilient supply chains and readily available spare parts. Both biders can make that case to some degree. Hanoa argues that a platform in active large-scale production with KSS Tris in fleet service for decades and supported by a proven global supply chain gives Canada a more dependable long-term logistics foundation. The timeline question is where the competition becomes sharpest.
Hunwa’s headline commitment is to deliver four KSS3 submarines before 2035 if a contract is signed in 2026 with the remaining eight arriving at a rate of one per year through 2043. The first boat could be in Canadian hands as early as 2032 with four in service before the last Victoria class submarine retires.
Germany’s revised offer following Boris Ptorius’ commitment at CANSE schedules the first four boats for 2032, 2033, 2035, and 2036. The gap on the first four boats is just one year. Korea completes them by 2035, Germany by 2036. For the full fleet of 12, Hana delivers the final boat in 2043, while TKMS has not publicly specified the full delivery schedule beyond the first four. Policy magazine’s defense procurement analysis from May 2026 assessed on that delivery timeline, Hana holds a clear advantage and with only a single Victoria class submarine currently operational the Canadian armed forces face growing constraints in their ability to contribute meaningfully to Allied operations. That operational gap is real and it is the most urgent argument in the entire procurement. Canada cannot patrol three oceans with one working submarine.
And every year of delay in receiving replacement vessels means another year of diminished capability in an increasingly demanding threat environment. The geopolitical dimension of this decision is what analysts from Carlton University’s Philippe Legass to Policy magazine and the Canadian Global Affairs Institute identify as potentially the decisive factor. Legass has written that Canada is selecting a strategic partner for the next 40 to 50 years. a choice that will signal whether Canada deepens its Atlantic and NATO alignment or makes a genuine Indo-Pacific pivot. That framing is not rhetorical. It is factually accurate.
The type 212 CD, if Canada selects it, would place the country inside a 24 submarine multinational fleet shared with Germany and Norway, two NATO allies.
My personal concept would be to try to split the purchase deals with a combined fleet of subs just like the Gripen/F35s (although I’ve already made my case for dropping the F35s for American’s failure to deliver them on time and budget – the overruns are out of control) keeping all the other perks offered to date.
The one thing I can tell you is that Prime Minister Mark Carney and his team should be commended for the “World Class negotiating skills and strategic planning. All this noise I hear coming from our Conservative Party of Canada and its Leader are simply lies that must be stopped!
As always, I’m Charles
