Thank you very much for that question. It is, in many ways, the central question going forward.
As I suggested in my preliminary observations, time, ladies and gentlemen, is not on our side. We have a series of ambitious programs going forward, but the phasing of those programs is awful. When you look at the Royal Canadian Navy, it has its Halifax class frigates, which are superb workhorses. However, they are coming towards the very end of their operational lives, and it will still be another 10 years before the replacements will be commissioned and begin to move into service. Similarly, we've seen the government's announcement that they plan to purchase 12 submarines. Regardless of the source, it will be another 10 years before these are fully operational—and we could say that about one or two other weapons systems, like the F-35s and so forth.
Not only do we have an enormous deficit that needs to be addressed—a legacy of failed government expenditure over the past 25 years—but we find ourselves in a situation where the timing is not attractive. The same failure to provide the latest equipment and so forth applies, of course—as we've seen from the testimony—to the Canadian Coast Guard.
It will be a major challenge, I think, going forward in the mid-2030s, when many of those reanimation programs in fact begin to come together, not only in terms of equipment and the integration of cultures but, as our colleagues have said, in terms of whether we can attract and retain personnel. All of these systems will begin to be operational, more or less, in mid-decade. Until that time, all we can do—and that's why I suggested it to you in my formal comments—is move with a sense of wartime urgency. This is serious stuff. We have dragged our feet for far too long. We've accepted self-congratulatory excuses, and this is no longer adequate for either the Coast Guard or the navy.
Your point is very well taken. This is a major integrative challenge, not only from a cultural perspective but from a physical one. I think, from my own experience, that the senior leadership in the navy—which is inspired, and we're very lucky to have excellent people at the top—and of the Coast Guard is eager to get on with getting on, so we have to streamline the bureaucratic processes to make this happen as quickly as possible.
