By James R. Holmes
Westward ho? Scuttlebutt has it that the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) may undertake a Pacific pivot of its own. At present most RCN assets are based in Halifax, Nova Scotia, imparting a distinctly North Atlantic flair to Canadian maritime strategy. The navy currently keeps seven frigates and two destroyers on the Atlantic coast, five frigates and a destroyer at Esquimalt, the port of Victoria, British Columbia. It also fields two combat logistics ships, essential for sustaining task forces at sea across intercontinental distances. Four diesel submarines acquired from the Royal Navy round out the order of battle.
If a pivot is in the offing, it will be a modest affair by great-power standards. Ottawa has maritime interests of immense scope but few resources to throw at them. Savvy strategy is even more important for middleweight powers like Canada than for a great power like the United States. Accordingly, here are 5 questions Canada's Navy should ask itself about its Pacific strategy, in ascending order of importance:
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