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TRUMP modifications
The entire class underwent major retrofits as a part of the Tribal Class Update and Modernization Program, or TRUMP, in the 1990s. These refits had the effect of re-purposing the ships for area air defence, and the ships now referred to as air defence destroyers. Their former anti-submarine role has since been taken over, to a large degree at least, by the newer Halifax-class frigates.
The main weapon of the new design is the Mk.41 VLS, firing 29 SM-2 Block III long-range anti-aircraft missiles. In order to provide room for the VLS, the original 5" gun was replaced with the smaller but much faster firing Otobreda 76 mm gun, relocated from the deck to the bridgework above it. A Phalanx CIWS was also added for self-defense. The torpedo tubes were retained, but the Sea Sparrow system was removed.
The modernization also replaced the original Pratt & Whitney FT-12 cruise turbines with newer 12,788 shp 570-KF engines from Allison. The speed remained the same, however, as the weight had increased to 5,100 tons full load. The original split funnel was replaced by a simpler single one, as the exhaust proved not to be a problem.
The TRUMP ships were intended to be a stop-gap measure only, their radar systems in particular being rather outdated. Currently the Iroquois are intended to serve until 2010, after some forty years of service.
There was some work on a replacement design, known to Navy-watchers as the Province-class destroyers, but this was confined largely to studies of a much-improved phased array radar system being developed for the Dutch and Germans, known as APAR. Current speculation is that the ships themselves would be similar to a "stretched" Halifax-class. Such a design would have similar capability to the Iroquois but with only one helicopter, and still be no match for the US's Arleigh Burke-class destroyer. There appear to be no current plans to actually build such a class, however.
A Huron, que estava na reserva, foi afundada há pouco tempo:
On May 14, 2007 at a MARPAC offshore weapons range, 150 km west of Vancouver Island [2], the SINK-EX named exercise Trident Fury 2007 was to see a variety of MARPAC ships and AIRCOM aircraft bombard Huron with artillery, missiles, strafing fire, and finally be sunk by a torpedo launced from a submarine, however, naval gunfire from HMCS Algonquin was all that was required. Ironically, Algonquin's main deck gun was formerly part of Huron's armament, meaning Huron was sunk by one of its own guns.[3] This sinking marked the first Canadian warship to be operationally sunk in Canadian waters.[4]
Huron's crest consists of a nicotine bloom, which pays tribute to the Huron peoples who were known for their tobacco use.
