In 1954, the Royal Canadian Navy decided to replace its fleet of obsolescent Grumman TBM Avenger antisubmarine warfare (ASW) aircraft with domestically produced, licence-built versions of the new Grumman S2F Tracker. The contract for the CS2F was worth , at the time, the largest post-Second World War Canadian defense contract. Subassemblies of the aircraft would be produced by various Canadian companies and shipped to de Havilland Canada facilities, where de Havilland would build the forward fuselage and crew compartment, assemble the aircraft, oversee installation of the ASW electronics, and prepare the aircraft for delivery.