HMCS Corner Brook. Image: Babcock
Canada’s submarine fleet could triple in size under the Canadian Patrol Submarine Project, from four boats to as many as 12. Babcock Canada wants AI to help it plan for that.
Driving the news: Babcock is expanding its partnership with Ottawa-based Larus Technologies to build a sovereign AI compute platform for submarine maintenance, sustainment and operational readiness. The companies have also signed an MOU naming Larus as Babcock Canada’s preferred AI supplier, bringing it into Babcock’s pan-Canadian supply chain.
How it works: Running in a secure environment, the platform pulls together maintenance schedules, engineering modifications, mission-critical upgrades, risk assessments and operational factors. It then looks for patterns, flags risks before they surface, and finds efficiencies.
The backstory:
Babcock is the prime contractor on the Victoria In-Service Support Contract, the industry-led sustainment program for the RCN’s four Victoria-class boats.
The two firms first teamed up in 2025 on a machine-learning proof of concept for predictive support of complex fleets.
An early version was tested on real asset-management data from a non-defence program. That trial was meant to show the system could handle sensitive data before moving to submarine work.
WHY IT MATTERS
Fleet growth: Babcock CEO Tony March said the tool will also help define the workforce, skills and industrial capacity needed for a larger future fleet, calling predictive planning “essential” as Canada scales up.
Sovereign AI: “Canada’s defence programs need trusted AI that is built and operated at home,” said Larus CEO George Di Nardo.
SME pull-through: A foreign-owned prime formally anchoring a Canadian AI firm in a core program is the kind of industrial-base story Ottawa wants to see.
Beyond subs: The companies say the approach could scale to maintenance and readiness planning across other defence sectors.
Between the lines: Larus is no newcomer. Founded in 1995 by Di Nardo, a former Canadian Space Agency engineer, the firm did its first Canadian Armed Forces project in 1999.
What we don’t know: The release gives no contract value, deployment timeline, or whether DND is funding or formally evaluating the platform.
BOTTOM LINE: The platform is still in development, but the MOU locks a Canadian AI firm into submarine sustainment just as Canada prepares to expand its fleet. If it works on the Victoria class, expect Babcock to pitch it for whatever comes next.
