(OOC: Note that I am changing OTL history here, because I want the 1990s and 2000s to be more interesting. Any suggestions or comments are of course appreciated.
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1992 - The Soviet Union officially packs it on Christmas Day in 1991, leaving no enemy in the Cold War and leaving NATO increasingly looking like it has no mission. The draw down of the Soviet Armed Forces, which began in 1985-86, became a flood in 1992 as the Soviet Republics, struggling under their own leadership and in many cases fighting bitterly amongst themselves, looked far less powerful than they had even a decade earlier.
With this came demands that Canada, as with most NATO countries, begin its own reduction in the size of the armed forces. Canada's government and all of its major parties realize that many of the excesses of the Cold War were now unnecessary, but Iraq had taught that there was still a need for the armed forces, and the bitter fighting in the ex-Soviet Republics that became open wars through 1992 showed that peacekeeping, a critical Canadian goal and a primary missions of the Canadian Forces, was gonna last long into the future.
On March 24, 1992, Prime Minister Mulroney announced that the six nuclear sub program that had begun in 1988 would be cut to three, much to the disappointment of the Canadian Submarine Solutions, which had been planning on building all six. The three would be complemented by a small handful of much cheaper to buy (and operate) diesel-electric submarines, once again opening bidding. The Submarine guys quickly got into the bidding for this, but that would remain low-key through the 1990s.
In the slowdown of the 1990s, several of Mulroney's 1991 plan aspects began to be viciously debated. The attack aircraft program would ultimately end up being settled by building additional CF-187 Corsair II attack aircraft, and buying a substantial number of ex-US Navy units for parts and training units. The Fast Sealift and Amphibious Assault Ship programs were merged, and efficiencies began to be looked into.
The battles of the year, despite the problems in Eastern Europe, began in Africa, in two widely spaced and very different countries.
In East Africa, Somalia had become a major problem. The death of dictator Siad Barre in 1991 had thrown the country into chaos, and the battles of 1991 and early 1992 had caused vast chaos in the country, and famine gripped millions. Food began being shipped into the nation in early 1992, but the opposing warlord clans fought bitterly and stole everything possible, with both sides trying to use food as a weapon. Eventually, observers were deployed to try and stop the violence and more easily move the food to those who needed it.
But on April 26, 1992, that situation changed dramatically. A bomb blast on South Africa's famed Blue Train caused the train to derail at over 80 mph, killing President Frederik de Klerk and most of his cabinet. Less than a week later on May 1, 1992, a car bomb aimed at ANC leaders killed ANC leaders Joe Slovo, Chris Hani and Oliver Tambo. Nelson Mandela is wounded in the attack, but not seriously. Rioting in South Africa is put down, brutally, by the South African government in Pretoria, which after the attack on the Blue Train is in no mood to play nice. But after the attack on the ANC leaders, black protesters are not in any mood to play nice, either. Within weeks race war has gripped South Africa, and when combined with the problems in the former Soviet Union strategic minerals prices explode, causing a big slowdown in the world economy.
Realizing that this couldn't stand, UN Resolution 790 former the UNMISA, the United Nations Mission in South Africa, and began to prepare landings. A big hurry-up happens after reports of mutinies within the once rock-hard SADF appear, and the body count soars into the thousands. On May 28, 1992, the UN authorizes the usage of force to end the violence in South Africa, supported by all five Security Council permanent members and dozens of other nations, Canada included. On June 2, Mulroney orders the Eagle battle group to South Africa, expecting trouble from all sides to the landing of troops.
HMCS
Eagle is joined by HMS
Ark Royal, HMAS
Australia and American carriers
Nimitz,
George Washington,
John F. Kennedy and
Independence, along with battleship USS
Missouri, whose planned retirement had been halted due to the need for gunfire support. The landing at Cape Town on June 28, 1992, met stiff resistance mostly from SADF units, but shortly after the landings the SADF gave in and ordered a cease-fire, with it going into effect on July 1 at 12:01 am. The ANC, however, does not negotiate a cease-fire and continues fighting, forcing allied forces to separate the two.
UNMISA would turn out to be the largest UN operation ever set up, with over 85,000 troops committed to the operation. UNMISA also committed naval and air forces to the operation, a large undertaking even at the best of times. Separated by UNMISA, cooler heads prevail in South Africa. The new Federal Republic of South Africa began to be hammered out in late 1992, and the agreement to create it was signed on May 22, 1993 in Johannesburg.
Eagle is Replaced......with a Supercarrier
UNMISA operations for the CF Maritime Command come to an abrupt end on August 11, 1992, after a malfunctioning rocket causes a giant explosion on
Eagle's flight deck, and subsequent explosions seriously damage her engines and rip open a 25-foot-wide hole in the hull, fortunately well above the waterline. The disaster is by a massive margin the greatest peacetime loss ever for the CF, as 121 sailors and airmen are KIA or MIA from the disaster, and 215 injuries are tallied. Dead in the water, American fleet tug
Powhatan tows
Eagle home, while her vessels join the other UNMISA forces before themselves being called home on August 24.
The disaster aboard
Eagle is a major confidence-shaker for the MARCOM, made worse by the Liberals insisting that the seriously-damaged carrier now has no usage in the post-Cold War era and that she should be decommissioned and scrapped. This, however, does not help the Liberals in the 1993 elections, as this decision comes to haunt the opposition. Mulroney, seeing the opportunity, cranks up a public debate by holding off on a decsion to repair Eagle while she is brought home and damage is assessed. Polls, however, see an aircraft carrier as an indispensable tool to assisting the Canadian Forces in their operations around the world. But Eagle's damage is immense - a massive hole in the flight deck, engines seriously damaged, the hull's integrity being questioned by naval architects.
While the debate rages, ideas come in. The United States Navy offers to transfer USS
Forrestal for free, a hard offer to pass up, but the Forrestal requires a crew far larger than Eagle did - Forrestal requires 5,500 crew, a massive increase from Eagle's 1,750. But Forrestal's condition is excellent, as the carrier was at the time planned to be the United States Navy's new training carrier, and computerized engineering controls and other upgrades would cut the crew size down by a huge amount.
Also offered is the half-finished Soviet carrier Varyag, offered by Ukraine to Canada for peanuts. But Varyag's condition is very rough. New carriers are moved off as being too pricey, and it looks for a while that Eagle might not have a replacement.
Realizing the problems with not having a carrier and Eagle's age, along with its wartime build and resulting only medium-quality steel and construction (despite her Canadian rebuild), the Canadian Forces begin seriously looking at designing and building their own carrier of roughly 32,000 tons and 45 aircraft, somewhat smaller than Eagle but still a real fixed-wing carrier.
But Mulroney, seeking to both shut up Chretien and show to the increasingly-influential right that he was no wuss, announced on November 26, 1992, that Eagle would be replaced, no matter what, and that the government would go for the American supercarrier if the Maritime Command could figure out a way for Canada to operate it. The decision makes the Maritime Command cheer and stuns all. The Liberals and NDP are against the outrageous cost of operating the beast, but Mulroney's point holds - he will only go for it if the country can afford to operate it.
The US Navy, surprised at the decision but not displeased themselves, asks Congress to allow Forrestal's transfer on January 16, 1993. Despite a new Congress and a new President in Bill Clinton, passage is all but assured, and passes on February 4, 1993.
Forrestal is still technically in commission at this point, but the Navy, realizing the fate of the vessel, does make sure to keep it in good shape.
With a budget to maintain, the plans for Forrestal's changes to allow it to operate with fewer crew become a Canadian mission. AECL's proposal to convert it to nuclear power is too costly, but General Motors of Canada and General Electric propose to remove its steam turbines and replace them with gas turbines, turbodiesel cruise engines and turbo-electric drive, and a little known company in Waterloo called Research in Motion proposes to have it all controlled from an engine control room, fully computerized. The University of Toronto proposes a compressed air catapult as opposed to a steal catapult. Many other ideas are thought up to reduce the needed manpower, and the overall result is the 5,540 crew is brought down to 3,310 fully loaded.
The issue becomes a defining one of the 1993 election. The Liberals say that the immense supercarrier will be too costly to operate, citing a cost of $165 million estimated yearly operating cost, along with the ship's age. The Conservatives, now led by Jean Charest and showing a far stronger electoral position than before, fires back that Canada has grown a maritime tradition that is worthy of renown, pointing out Eagle's work in Cyprus, Iraq and South Africa, and the public perception that the aircraft carrier will become a symbol of Canada.
Canada's industries line up behind the plan, pointing out that acquisition and rebuilding of
Eagle gave a new life to the Canadian shipbuilding industry, and that the other options are going to a much smaller carrier, none at all or building one themselves, at far greater costs and only marignally smaller operating cost.
The election very narrowly goes to Charest, but its a minority government. The Bloc Quebecois agrees with the Liberals that its too expensive, but the Reform Party wants it done. The NDP, continuing its history of being pro-military despite its socialist policies, goes with the Conservatives.
On March 18, 1994, Canada agrees to take possession of the Forrestal, which is renamed HMCS
Warrior (CV-24). The ship goes again to the massive dry-dock in Saint John, New Brunswick, for its overhaul. Over the next three years, the vessel's hull is stripped to bare metal and coated in a polymer solution to prevent rust, followed by a newly-formulated paint which allows for less drag. The ship is extensively reconfigured, with the Port side forward aircraft elevator deleted and a new elevator built at the back of the vessel on the port side. A new superstructure included a funnel venting gases off to the side of the vessel. The flight deck is expanded by 15 percent, and much of the superstructure is built from aluminum to reduce weight. This allows a dedicated helicopter pad above the flight deck behind the tower. The superstructure is very tall, but it also offers excellent views of the vessel and the area around.
Highly-efficient General Electric LM6000 gas turbines and General Motors H-Model four-stroke diesel cruise engines are installed, which also allows room for greater accomodations. HMCS
Warrior is a very roomy vessel after its rebuild, and the vessel's accomodation spaces also gain many amenities, and the vessel's power rises from 260,000 shp to a maximum of 325,000 shp, with the gas turbines able to be turned off entirely when cruising, immensely improving fuel efficiency. At full blast,
Warrior is capable of an astounding 35.8 knots, and can handle any carrier aircraft on the planet.
Warrior's rebuild is expensive at $932 million, but that is still one-third the cost of building a new carrier and substantially under budget. Further refinements reduce the crew, air crew included, down to 3,165 officers and men.
Completed in the summer of 1996,
Warrior leaves its dry-dock for the first time on August 20, 1996, with its first captain, Captain Peter Hamilton, taking it out for testing. The vessel performs so flawlessly that the crew records absolutely no problems during power and systems testing. The aircraft spends the rest of 1996 and early 1997 testing its aircraft abilities - which are exceptional. In a highly publicized March 1997 incident, a US Navy F-14B got into a mock dogfight with a Canadian Forces' CF-18, and the Navy guy, having lost to the agile fighter, called out that he was "going for reinforcements".
Warrior heard that call and ordered its whole air wing airborne to surprise the Americans, leading to a six-aircraft formation running into more than 20 CF-18s, leading the American commander to blurt out "where did all these f--king Canucks come from?"
Testing more successful than had even been hoped, HMCS
Warrior (CV-24) was commissioned by Prime Minister Jean Charest in Quebec City on June 25, 1997, marking the arrival of Canada's new carrier, which was promptly deployed to support Canadian forces in the Balkans.
HMCS Warrior (as commissioned)
Rebuilders: Saint John Maritime Shipbuilding, Saint John, New Brunswick
Engineering Contractors: SNC-Lavalin, Maritimes Marine Engineering
Displacement (light): 59,720 tons
Displacement (full load): 82,260 tons
Length: 990 feet (waterline), 1,088 feet (overall)
Beam: 129 ft 4 in (waterline), 256 feet (extreme width)
Draft: 37 feet (full load)
Propulsion: 5 General Electric LM6000NV gas turbines, 8 General Electric H-Model 265 turbodiesel cruise engines, 13 Westinghouse electric generators, 16 Kinova Electronics 15MW geared electric motors, 4 shafts
Power Output: 325,400 shp
Top Speed: 36.5 knots (67 km/h)
Range: 16,500 miles at 15 knots
Complement: 627 officers, 2,537 men (including air wing)
Aircraft Carried: Up to 85