The Arctic Offshore Patrol Ship Project is a Government of Canada procurement project for the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) that is part of the National Shipbuilding Procurement Strategy. In July 2007 the federal government announced plans for acquiring 6-8 icebreaking vessels for the RCN. The vessels have been speculated to be modelled on the Norwegian Svalbard class and as of 2007 are projected to cost $3.1 billion CAD to construct with a total project procurement budgeted to cost $4.3 billion in order to cover maintenance over the 25 year lifespan of the vessels.