Rescue Required: Canada’s Search-And-Rescue Aircraft Program
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The USA isn’t the only country whose SAR aircraft program is having a hard go of it lately. In 2004, Canada announced a C$1+ billion program to replace its aging DHC-5 (CC-115) Buffalo (West Coast) and CC-130E/H Hercules (East Coast) search-and-rescue planes with at least 15 new aircraft. Some of the Canadian Forces’ CC-130s have already been grounded after flying 40,000 – 50,000 hours, and negotiations are underway for military transport replacements.
The first SAR aircraft was to be delivered in 2006, with all deliveries complete by 2009. The competitors were a familiar duo: the Alenia C-27J Spartan and its C-130J compatibility, vs. the EADS-CASA C-295M with its longer fuselage and lower operating costs. The competition may have to wait, however – about 4 years, or longer…
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Aero News reports that the Canadian SAR competition has now been pushed forward 4 years, and quotes Canadian Air Force spokesman Capt. Jim Hutcheson as saying that there isn’t even a projected delivery date any more.
“It is acknowledged that there are other government priorities, other departmental priorities that are being pursued right now, largely associated with operations in Afghanistan…. We’ll most likely use the Buffalo and the Herc beyond 2010 until the new aircraft arrive…. How much beyond, they’re looking at options that will cover that range.”
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Giuseppe Giordo, President of Alenia North America in Washington, DC, notes that negotiations are ongoing and the first CC-130Js aren’t expected until 2009 at the earliest. He contends that the funds could be used now to finance SAR recapitalization.
Canada’s Conservative Party is a minority government, which means it can be brought down at any time via a vote of no-confidence by the other political parties. The deferral of this purchase is likely to prove contentious in many regions of Canada, which is the world’s second largest country and has large remote areas that are thinly-populated but important to its economy.
Stay tuned.
Additional Readings
- Alenia – C-27J Canadian SAR competition site
- Lockheed Martin – Canadian CC-130J transport advocacy site
