Canadian Firm Wins $100M Maritime Reconnaissance Contract from Dutch
Jul 24, 2006 07:18 UTC by Defense Industry Daily staff
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In the fall of 2003, the Dutch government announced the retirement and sale of its P-3C Orion maritime patrol aircraft fleet, including 2 aircraft stationed at Curacao that flew missions for the Netherlands Antilles and Aruba. The Orions were sold to Germany (8) and Portugal (5), but their services needed to be replaced. Australia’s contracted public-private Coastwatch approach offers a solid model for such situations, and now similar Dash-8 aircraft with maritime patrol mission suites will be operating in the Caribbean – operated and managed by a private Canadian firm.
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Provincial Airlines, a subsidiary of Provincial Aerospace Ltd. in Newfoundland, Canada, has won a USD $100-million contract to supply reconnaissance aircraft and services in the Netherlands Antilles and Aruba for 10 years. The 2 Dash-8 aircraft will be purchased, outfitted, and operated by Provincial airlines; they will be used to save lives at sea, track down offenders on environmental, economic, and fisheries matters, and intercept drug transports in the Caribbean Sea.
The St. John’s-based aerospace and defence contracting company has over 25 years’ experience in air reconnaissance operations, and maintains other bases in Barbados & Trinidad and Tobago. Yet the firm pointed to its 20-year partnership with Canada’s Department of Fisheries and Oceans as a major reason for its success with this contract. The contract with the Netherlands government will add about 75 new full-time technical and professional jobs to Provincial’s workforce. See Canada East report | Netherlands Ministerie van Defensie release in Dutch.
N.B. The Dash 8 MPA interior photo comes courtesy of aircraft maker Bombardier, but depicts work performed by Toronto, Canada-based Field Aviation Co. as part of Australia’s billion-dollar Coastwatch program. DID offers spome in-depth background regarding their work in our coverage of Australia’s recent contract renewal and fleet expansion.
