April 20, 2021 | Local, Naval
March 14, 2019 | Local, Aerospace
Used Australian F-18s will fly 160 hours annually for RCAF
DAVID PUGLIESE, OTTAWA CITIZEN
The Parliamentary Budget Officer's recent report provides more details about the used Australian F-18s that Canada is purchasing. Eighteen of the 25 will eventually be flying, while the other seven will be used for spare parts and testing.
Here are details taken from the PBO report:
According to PBO calculations, the Canadian fleet is both slightly older and has experienced more usage than the Australian fleet. The average Canadian F-18 had accrued over 6,000 flying hours by the end of the 2017-2018 fiscal year. These calculations are supported by media reports indicating that by 2014, the CF-18s had accumulated over 5,700 flying hours on average, with over a third of the fleet already having flown over 6,000.
Canada's Department of National Defence has stated that the aircraft being purchased from Australia's F-18 fleet are very similar to those currently in operation within the RCAF.
- The fleet arrival profile consists of 2 aircraft in 2018-2019, 2 aircraft in 2019-2020, 8 aircraft in 2020-2021, and 6 aircraft in 2021-2022;
- The aircraft will enter service approximately 6 months after being received;
- The aircraft will each accumulate about 160 flying hours per year, in accordance with the recent experience of the Canadian CF-18 fleet;
- Each Australian F/A-18 has accumulated an average of 6000 flying hours over the course of its operational history with the Royal Australian Air Force;.
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December 18, 2019 | Local, Aerospace
Lockheed Martin, Canadian UAVs to improve beyond visual line of sight operations
The ability to fly unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) beyond the visual line of sight (BVLOS) significantly improves their effectiveness and potential. The increased range of BVLOS operations requires real-time airspace situational awareness for the UAV pilot and support crew to ensure safe, repeatable operations. Canadian UAVs and Lockheed Martin Canada CDL Systems have signed a memorandum of understanding to provide an unmanned traffic management solution to meet this challenge. This solution will build a complete airspace picture necessary to conduct unmanned operations beyond visual line of sight in Canada and beyond. “A complete airspace picture is an absolute necessity to conduct unmanned flights beyond visual line of sight,” said Dustin Engen, Lockheed Martin Canada CDL Systems business development manager. “When combined, Canadian UAV's Sparrowhawk radar and our VCSi product will offer all users this complete picture and provide the necessary situational awareness for BVLOS flights in Canada and abroad.” Lockheed Martin Canada CDL Systems will provide integration support for the vehicle control station software called VCSi, a universal ground control system based on more than 1.5 million flight hours in military and commercial flight operations. Canadian UAVs will integrate their low-cost, ground-based radar, Sparrowhawk, into VCSi to provide users with a complete airspace picture of manned and unmanned aviation tracking with collision avoidance. Sparrowhawk has been instrumental in Canadian UAVs' first permitted BVLOS flights outside of restricted airspace in Canadian history. The company will also develop hardware and artificial intelligence software as part of Project Skysensus, a five-year investment from Canada's Industrial and Technological Benefit (ITB) Policy. “With Canadian UAVs' advanced market position in BVLOS operations, we are seeing a lot of gaps in what the general market offers to solve fundamental technological issues in unmanned aviation,” said Sean Greenwood, president of Canadian UAVs. “As a result, we developed a technology road-map that invests in a comprehensive tool set to increase flight safety and repeatability as these operations increase in volume and airspace complexity. We have been working with Lockheed Martin CDL Systems for several years and we are very excited by this agreement to formalize the relationship.” https://www.skiesmag.com/press-releases/lockheed-martin-canadian-uavs-to-improve-beyond-visual-line-of-sight-operations
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January 31, 2020 | Local, Aerospace, Naval
Transport Canada adds Dash 8 to surveillance program fleet
Canada's National Aerial Surveillance Program (NASP) is getting a boost through a new addition to its aircraft fleet. On Jan. 30, Minister of Transport Marc Garneau announced that Transport Canada has acquired a lower-time de Havilland Canada Dash 8-100. This aircraft will undergo modifications over the next two years to equip it for maritime patrol operations. Currently, NASP aircraft carry cameras that can covertly monitor vessels from five miles away and at 20,000 feet altitude. They are also equipped with technology that can live stream video from the aircraft to personnel on the ground, in offices and to people's phones. Through the Government of Canada's Oceans Protection Plan and the Whales Initiative, NASP aircraft detect oil spills and other marine pollution, monitor ships and track endangered whale movements. Aerial surveillance is a vital tool to monitor the designated shipping zones for endangered North Atlantic right whales, located in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, and in Arctic operations such as verifying vessel pollution detected by satellites. “Transport Canada's National Aerial Surveillance Program is an essential piece of our government's efforts to keep Canada's coasts and inland waters safe and clean. I am pleased to support this work through the procurement of a new Dash 8 aircraft to enhance surveillance capacity under the program, leading to a cleaner environment and a safer shipping industry,” said Anita Anand, Minister of Public Services and Procurement. Transport Canada is also building a new NASP complex in Iqaluit, Nunavut, to support northern operations. In 2018-2019, the National Aerial Surveillance Program set a record for the number of hours flown, with a total of 4,152 hours of surveillance over 27,520 vessels for an average of 6.63 vessel over- flights per hour. https://www.skiesmag.com/press-releases/transport-canada-adds-dash-8-to-surveillance-program-fleet