Armament and Support Systems
The missile portion of the warship's armament suite consists of 16 x Evolved Sea Sparrow medium-ranged, Surface-to-Air Missiles (SAMs), 24 x Honeywell Mk 46 torpedoes, and 8 x RGM-84 "Harpoon" Anti-Ship Missiles (ASMs). Projectile-based weapons include 1 x 57mm Bofors Mk.2 turreted deck gun, 1 x 20mm Phalanx Close-In-Weapon System (CIWS), and up to 8 x 0.50 caliber Browning Heavy Machine Guns (HGMs) for extreme close-in work. The warship's helicopters also come equipped for the anti-ship/anti-submarine role as well as providing an active critical "eye-in-the-sky", over-the-horizon capability. All this is intended to provide the warship with the needed tools to take on most any airborne, sea-based or undersea threat known.
HMCS Ville de Quebec is outfitted with 2 x BAe Systems "Shield" Mk.2 decoy chaff launchers for self-preservation against missile attacks. 2 x Thales SPG-503 are fitted for fire control and the Raytheon AN/SPS-49(V)5 C-/D-band air-search radar is the active tracking installation. Kelvin Hughes provides the Type 1007 I-band navigation unit. The AN/SLQ-25A "Nixie" system serves in the towed decoy role to protect against enemy torpedoes and a bow-mounted sonar unit is used for submarine-hunting. The CAnadian Electronic Warfare System (CANEWS) serves as the Radar Warning Receiver (RWR) component alongside the SLQ-505 jammer suite.
Modernization Notes and Service
Due to her Cold War roots, Ville de Quebec was given a modernization to keep her viable on the changing battlefield. This included upgrade of all major pertinent mission systems including communications, fire control, search-and-tracking, and the EW suite. Modifications were also made to accept the new CH-148 Cyclone helicopter family (this aircraft detailed elsewhere on this site).
Since her time at sea, Ville de Quebec has been actively patrolling vital Atlantic waters to enforce Canadian interests and has undertaken various NATO-related exercises where she has proven her stealth features, seakeeping, and general readiness to deal with multiple threats. She made up part of the blockade force of Yugoslavia during the Yugoslav wars of the 1990s and assisted the United States in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Like other Western vessels, Ville de Quebec formed part of the contingent of warships patrolling the Somali coast against local pirates in recent deployments. Another modernization then followed in late-2014, bringing her back online before the end of 2015. A machinery fire in March of 2016 delayed her return in full and her latest recorded actions were in the NATO-sponsored exercise "Trident Juncture".
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