VICTORIA — A South Korean KSS-III submarine arrived in British Columbia on Saturday as part of an effort to further defence relations, but also to market the high-tech boat in the multi-billion-dollar competition for Canada’s new sub fleet. The Republic of Korea’s Dosan Ahn Chang-ho docked at Canadian Forces Base Esquimalt in Victoria after a 14,000-kilometre voyage, the longest ever undertaken by one of Korea’s submarines. The KSS-III submarine is in Canada to conduct joint exercises with the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN), but it is also doing double-duty in a hotly contested multi-billion-dollar defence procurement competition .
Canada will acquire up to 12 new submarines for the RCN and has narrowed the competition down to the KSS-III submarine from the South Korean company Hanwha Ocean and the Type 212CD submarine from Germany’s ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems (TKMS). The Liberal government hopes to make an announcement on the winning bid by this summer. Glenn Copeland, CEO of Ottawa-based Hanwha Defence Canada, said that, while the arrival of the sub showed the increasingly close military relations between South Korea and Canada, the timing was fortuitous for his company.
“It works well,” he said. “We are going to take advantage of the submarine being here.” The Royal Canadian Navy is using the Korean submarine visit to push home its message of the need for a modern submarine fleet. Rear-Admiral David Patchell, commander of Maritime Forces Pacific, acknowledged that only one of Canada’s four aging Victoria-class subs was currently operational.
“I need them yesterday,” Patchell said when asked when the navy would need new submarines. Patchell said the purchase of 12 new boats would signal that Canada was a “submarine nation.” “It’s a message to our allies that we’re taking defence seriously,” he added. Joining the crew of the Dosan Ahn Chang-ho were Lt.
Cmdr. Britany Bourgeois and Petty Officer Second Class Jake Dixon of the Royal Canadian Navy. Both RCN members participated in training activities at sea and observed how both the crew and equipment operated.
Bourgeois described the South Korean boat as spacious, clean and modern. “What really hit home is that Canada needs new submarines,” she said. South Korean officials said the journey demonstrated that the Dosan Ahn Chang-ho had the operational range, endurance, and self-sufficiency that Canada required for its Canadian Patrol Submarine Project.
The ROK Navy announced May 18 that the Dosan Ahn Chang-ho successfully established communications with the Royal Canadian Navy Pacific Fleet using its onboard communications systems under simulated war-time conditions. Through the successful communication, the ROK and RCN directly verified interoperability between the two navies in an operational environment, according to the South Koreans. “This successful communications exchange will demonstrate the capability of our navy to expand its operational reach into multinational combined operations, including with NATO allies like Canada,” Capt.
Lee Byung-il, commanding officer of the Dosan Ahn Chang-ho, noted in a statement. During his visit to Victoria, Lim Ki-mo, Ambassador of the Republic of Korea to Canada, highlighted the links between the two nations, both current because of a new defence alliance and in the past with Canada’s participation in the Korean war. “Canada has been looking for different friends and allies, other ‘middle-powers,’ to diversify investment, trade and defence capabilities,” the ambassador said.
“South Korea has opened its arms to Canada and is taking every step possible to enhance and expand a relationship that started 75 years ago, when Canada sent more than 26,000 troops to help defend our nation.” When it comes to capabilities and weapons, either the German or South Korean submarine can do the job for Canada, senior Royal Canadian Navy officers have concluded. “Both of them fulfil the requirements, the very high requirements, for the Canadian Navy,” Prime Minister Mark Carney said in September 2025. A key factor for a winning bid on the submarine program will be the industrial benefits offered to Canada .
Both Hanwha and TKMS have entered into multiple alliances with Canadian companies as part of their bids. Copeland said the proposed South Korean investment package was worth more than $60 billion to Canada. Included is a partnership with Canada’s Automotive Parts Manufacturers’ Association (APMA) to establish a new company that would produce military and industrial vehicles in Canada.
The other strong point in the Hanwha bid, Copeland said, is the ability of the company to quickly deliver the new boats. “(The first) will be here in 2032,” he said. “No one can match that.” Hanwha officials say they can deliver the first four KSS-III submarines to Canada by 2035 if a contract is signed in 2026.
The additional submarines would be delivered at a rate of one per year, meaning the entire fleet of 12 submarines could be delivered to Canada by 2043. The other pitch the South Koreans have made as far as the delivery schedule is that it would allow Canada to fully retire the current Victoria-class sub fleet before 2035. That would result in estimated savings of approximately $1 billion on maintenance and support costs of those aging vessels, according to the South Koreans.
The German submarine, being built in conjunction with Norway, is not yet in the water. However, construction has started and that submarine program is being touted as an example of co-operation between NATO nations. David Pugliese is an award-winning journalist covering Canadian Forces and military issues in Canada.
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