Thank you very much for the question.
The Canadian surface combatant project definition was received from Treasury Board earlier this year and is now going through the definition phase. Right now we're concentrating on ensuring we have the right approach, the right procurement strategy.
In the middle of November, we began the consultation process with industry. We went out with some options, as we saw it, and basically put a number of options on the table, principally on how we would configure the teams and how industry saw that occurring.
As a result of the shipbuilding strategy, the ships will be built in Halifax, at the Irving shipyard. In this case of the surface combatant, there's much more complexity in the combat systems—the weapons and sensors, computer systems, and communications on board, so we're working right now to determine the best configuration. Principally, what we're doing is asking industry for their views on that.
So we've launched it. We've asked for industry to give us their written feedback later this month, their views on how to proceed. We'll then review that, collate it, look at the options, and then go back to industry for further consultation.
At the same time as we are working towards the replacement of the current destroyers and frigates, we're also modernizing the frigates. They really are at mid-life, and we're doing extensive work to bring them into the next decade.