Canada's first Arctic Offshore Patrol Ship expected in October

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  February 5, 2019 | Local, Aerospace

  Griffon life extension program to include upgraded sims

  The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) will be seeking an upgrade to its CH-146 Griffon maintenance and flight training simulators as part of a life extension project for the multi-role utility helicopters. The first phase of the project, which is intended to keep the fleet of 85 Griffons flying until at least 2031, took off on Jan. 26 with the award of a $90 million contract to Bell Helicopter Textron Canada to develop and design options for the avionics systems, engines, integrated sensors and cockpit displays. A follow-on contract to install new systems and upgrade others is expected in 2022. Around the same time, the federal government will be inviting industry to respond to a request for proposals to modernize the Griffon simulators, according to a Department of National Defence spokesperson. “The upgrade to the flight simulation devices will be procured under a separate contract,” she said in an emailed response. The CH-146 simulators were built by CAE and delivered to the RCAF in the mid-1990s, shortly before the helicopters entered service between 1995 and 1997. CAE continues to provide in-service support. As part of what is being called the Griffon Limited Life Extension (GLLE) project, the RCAF wants to replace a number of the helicopter's avionics systems, including communications radios and cryptographic equipment, cockpit voice and flight recorders, the navigation systems, the automatic flight control systems, and the control display units. Obsolescence of critical components has been a problem for maintenance technicians for several years now. The design phase will also look at upgrades to the engines and to the sensor suite. The CH-146, which is based on the Bell 412, performs a variety of transport, close fire support and armed escort missions for tactical aviation and special operations forces. However, it has a top speed of around 260 kilometres per hour, well below that of the Boeing CH-147F Chinook that it escorts during missions such as Operation Presence in Mali. “These helicopters have performed extremely well over the years and with these new upgrades, they will continue to be a valuable asset that will allow our personnel to carry out missions and operations successfully well into the future,” RCAF commander LGen Al Meinzinger said in a statement. While aircrews would like more speed, more lift and bigger guns as part of any upgrade program, the current platform meets most of their needs, Col Travis Morehen, commanding officer of 1 Wing, the RCAF's tactical aviation headquarters in Kingston, Ont., told Skies in a recent interview. “I think we have done a really good job of exploiting what we can do with the Griffon,” said Morehen, who is currently serving as commander of the Canadian Armed Forces task force in Mali. “I don't think there are many nations that have been as agile and flexible with that type of platform as we have, whether it is the combat service support role for search and rescue, or precision insertion for special operations . . . or what we are doing in terms of utility lift, or providing, with the GAU-21 (.50 Cal machine gun), stand off fires.” Whatever the changes that are ultimately accepted as part of the initial design phase now being conducted by Bell, the helicopters will require upgraded flight training and maintenance simulators to match. The GLLE project, including modernized simulators, is expected to reach initial operational capability by 2024 and be fully operational by 2026. https://www.skiesmag.com/news/griffon-life-extension-program-to-include-upgraded-sims/

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  April 26, 2019 | Local, Aerospace

  Government expects to award contract for new fighter jet fleet in 2022 (but admits it could face delays)

  DAVID PUGLIESE, OTTAWA CITIZEN Though the federal government expects to award a contract for a new fleet of fighter jets in 2022, it admits that schedule is aggressive and could yet face further delays. A request for bids to provide 88 new jets to the Royal Canadian Air Force will be released next month, according to a new update on major Department of National Defence projects released Wednesday, with the proposals to be evaluated by 2021 and a contract to be awarded a year later. But in the update DND also admits that timeline is tenuous. “The approved schedule is considered very aggressive,” it said. “The project team is managing a number of risks which have the potential to impact schedule.” The document doesn't outline the specific risks but DND officials have acknowledged that government negotiations with private contractors on the industrial benefits that are to be linked to the project could cause delays. The Liberals have committed to purchasing the new jets in a program expected to cost up to $19 billion. The competition was launched on Dec. 12, 2017, and Canada expects to examine four different fighter jets as candidates for the RCAF's new fleet. The project team is managing a number of risks which have the potential to impact schedule The first of the jets is expected to be delivered in the mid-2020s, with the full capability available in the early 2030s, according to the DND document. The document also outlines the plan to purchase used Australian F-18s in the interim, which the RACF will use to boost the capability of its current fleet of CF-18s until the new generation aircraft are in service. The first of the Australian jets has already been delivered, with final delivery set for the end of 2021, according to the update. However, the parliamentary budget officer has found this interim solution could cost more than $1 billion, and the auditor general's office has pointed out that the air force is lacking pilots and maintenance crews for the planes it already operates. Wednesday's DND update points out success stories as well as challenges with some of DND's multi-billion dollar projects. Some programs, such as the purchase of Chinook helicopters and tactical armoured patrol vehicles, are completed or are nearing completion with few problems. A new $2-billion program to buy heavy trucks is among those expected to be proceed without issues. Canada also expects to award a contact next year for a mid-life upgrade of the fleet of Cormorant search-and-rescue helicopters, and the conversion of former U.S. presidential helicopters so they can join the flight line for rescue operations. But the report warns there could be problems with other upcoming projects such as the purchase of a fleet of drones. It noted that there might not be enough procurement staff with the required expertise to move that program forward on schedule. The department hopes to deal with the problem by hiring contractors. A draft invitation to qualify for that project was released April 5 and a contact is expected to be awarded in 2022, the document said. The first of a fleet of new fixed-wing search-and-rescue aircraft, meanwhile, are to be delivered in December. The first plane will be sent to 19 Wing Comox, B.C. in the spring of 2020. The 16 new planes will be phased in between 2020 and 2022. But DND acknowledged it is keeping an eye on the potential that schedule could be affected because of the “complexities associated with transitioning to the new fleet while maintaining the current search and rescue posture.” In addition, DND is keeping watch on problems with its new upgraded light armoured vehicles. Though the vehicles have been delivered on time, some technical issues will be fixed through a retrofit program. There have also been problems with software design and qualification of components in another new fleet of armoured vehicles that will be used for battlefield surveillance, the first of which is to be delivered next year. The first new supply ship for the Royal Canadian Navy, being built in Vancouver, is expected in 2023 but won't be ready for operations until a year later. The delivery of the second supply ship “is currently under review,” the update added. In the meantime, the navy has access to MV Asterix, the supply ship at the heart of the court case involving Vice-Admiral Mark Norman. That ship, currently being leased to the navy by Quebec firm Davie Shipbuilding, was delivered on time and on budget and is considered a procurement success story. https://ottawacitizen.com/news/canada/government-expects-to-award-contract-for-new-fighter-jet-fleet-in-2022-but-admits-it-could-face-delays/wcm/a34c8b83-3838-4ff9-87ac-1741fd434059

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  February 6, 2019 | Local, Aerospace

  Air Force aiming to have armed drones in the air in next six years: commander

  By The Canadian Press OTTAWA — The Royal Canadian Air Force is hoping to pull the trigger on the purchase of new drones within six years after spending nearly two decades weighing different options. The Canadian Forces has been working since the early 2000s to find unmanned aerial vehicles that can conduct surveillance over Canada's vast territory and support overseas missions. Yet aside from purchasing a small number of temporary, unarmed drones for the war in Afghanistan, the military has never been able to make much progress on a permanent fleet. Air Force commander Lt.-Gen. Al Meinzinger says he believes that is about to change after the Trudeau government became the first to officially authorize the acquisition of a fleet of armed UAVs through its defence policy. In an interview, Meinzinger says the air force is nearly finished drawing up options — where it has been stuck for years — and will soon move into the next phase by presenting its proposals to procurement officials. While the military has welcomed Canada's decision to buy armed drones and promised to abide by international laws, some arms-control advocates have expressed concern about the legal grey zone such weapons inhabit. The Canadian Press https://www.nationalnewswatch.com/2019/02/06/air-force-aiming-to-have-armed-drones-in-the-air-in-next-six-years-commander-3/#.XFsws1xKiUl