3 août 2022 | Local, Aérospatial
Snowbirds won't take flight as military investigators look into cause of crash
There is no timeline for how long the aircraft will be on the sidelines, according to the Department of National Defence
23 novembre 2018 | Local, Aérospatial
Norway’s experience with F-35 fighter jets offers lesson for Canada
By Levon Sevunts, Radio Canada International
As the federal government embarks on a much delayed and criticized quest to find a replacement for its ageing fleet of CF-18 Hornet fighter jets, Norway's saga with the acquisition of F-35 stealth fighters offers Canada a valuable lesson.
The search for a replacement for CF-18 got a new urgency Tuesday after a blistering report by Canada's auditor general, who lambasted the Liberal government's handling of the file that could have serious implications for Ottawa's ability to fulfill its NATO and NORAD obligations.
Just like Ottawa, Oslo was one of the first NATO countries to show interest in the new stealth multirole fighters developed by U.S. defence giant Lockheed Martin.
In June 2009, the Norwegian Parliament decided that the F-35A Lightning II would replace its current fleet of F-16 fighter jets. Unlike Ottawa, despite strong internal opposition, Oslo saw things through.
By 2025, Norway hopes to have a fleet of 52 F-35s.
No-show at Trident Juncture demonstration
Norwegian authorities were hoping to showcase their newest and most expensive defence acquisition in the country's history at a massive display of NATO's military might during the official launch of Trident Juncture 2018 exercise on Oct. 30.
But much to the chagrin of dozens of journalists, NATO officials and dignitaries that had assembled on the shores of the Trondheim Fjord in central Norway to watch the display of land, sea and air power, the Norwegian F-35s never showed up.
Lt.-Col. Stale Nymoen, commander of the 332 Squadron of the Royal Norwegian Air Force and one of the first Norwegian pilots to learn to fly the F-35s, said strong crosswinds at the Ørland Air Base forced officials to cancel the planned overflight.
The cancellation of the overflight on an otherwise perfect autumn day had nothing to do with the jet's capabilities, Nymoen said.
“Seen from my perspective, it's one of the best fighter aircraft out there,” Nymoen told a roomful of journalists during a briefing at the Ørland Air Base in central Norway earlier this month.
But it has taken even experienced pilots like him years to learn to fly the new fighter jets and, just as importantly, unlearn old habits, Nymoen said.
Learning to crawl before walking
Norway received its first four F-35s in January of 2017. But all of them were stationed at the Luke Air Force Base in Phoenix, Arizona, where Norwegian, U.S. and Italian pilots trained on the new aircraft.
It wasn't until November of 2017 that the stealth fighter jets actually arrived for service in Norway, at the Ørland Air Base, which is going through a massive infrastructure upgrade to house the new planes.
Operating and flying them in Norway with its harsh North Atlantic and Arctic climate is a whole new experience, Nymoen said.
“What is different from Luke when we train to operate the aircraft here is temperatures, winter, icy and slippery runways, winds,” Nymoen said. “Those are conditions that we don't necessarily get to train for when we're training in the United States.”
And the Norwegian air force is taking a very cautious approach to avoid any accidents, he said.
“We have to learn to crawl before we can walk, and we have to learn to walk before we can run,” Nymoen said.
The first squadron of F-35s is expected to reach initial operational capability in 2019 and full operational capability only in 2025, eight years after the aircraft were delivered to Norway.
This timeline would also apply to Canada, if Lockheed Martin were to emerge as the winner of the competition to buy 98 advanced aircraft for the Royal Canadian Air Force announced by the Liberal government last December.
The list of eligible suppliers identified by the federal government also includes France's Dassault Aviation, Sweden's SAAB, the U.K.'s Airbus Defense and Space, and the U.S. defence and aerospace giant Boeing.
If the federal government manages to stick to its timetable, a contract award is anticipated in 2022 and the first replacement aircraft delivered in 2025.
This means that the current fleet of Canadian CF-18s and the 18 additional second-hand Australian F-18s the federal government is buying as a stopgap measure will have to operate until at least 2030, experts say.
http://www.rcinet.ca/en/2018/11/21/norway-f-35-fighter-jets-offers-lesson-for-canada
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25 octobre 2018 | Local, Aérospatial
An Investment in Capability
If you're planning to become hopelessly lost, my advice is to do it in Norway. That was the author's conclusion after Skies was invited to the Leonardo Helicopters facility in Yeovil, England, to fly the latest variant of the AW101 search and rescue (SAR) helicopter. The machine was brand new, pending delivery to Norway, but represented a configuration that Leonardo has proposed to the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) as an upgrade for Canada's fleet of CH-149 Cormorant SAR helicopters. AN OPPORTUNITY FOR THE RCAF The CH-149 Cormorant entered RCAF service in 2002. While not an old airframe by Canadian standards, the subsequent evolution of the model has left our version somewhat dated, and Leonardo maintains that obsolescence issues are beginning to adversely affect operational availability Team Cormorant is an industry consortium composed of Leonardo Helicopters, IMP Aerospace & Defence, CAE, GE Canada and Rockwell Collins Canada. The group's unsolicited proposal to the Air Force is intended to guard against creeping obsolescence and ultimately to reduce the cost of operating the helicopter. Under Team Cormorant's proposal, the RCAF would also acquire a training facility with a modern full-mission simulator, likely to be installed at 19 Wing Comox, B.C. The machine on offer to Canada is an extensively upgraded version of the RCAF's existing airframe, based upon the AW101-612 configuration; 16 of which are destined for Norway under its Norwegian All-Weather SAR Helicopter (NAWSARH) program. Team Cormorant's proposal to Canada also seeks to take advantage of nine former VH-71 Kestrel airframes from the cancelled U.S. presidential helicopter program, acquired by the RCAF in 2011. These would be used to augment the Cormorant fleet from the current 14–widely acknowledged as inadequate for Canadian SAR requirements–up to potentially 21 machines. Enhanced fleet size would allow the RCAF to base the Cormorant at 8 Wing Trenton, Ont.; a move that would improve SAR capability in the vast Trenton SAR region. Compared to in-service CH-149 Cormorants, the upgrades on offer include new, more powerful, full-authority digital electronic-controlled (FADEC) General Electric CT7-8E turboshaft engines; a more modern Rockwell Collins cockpit and avionics suite; improved aircraft management system; and a newly designed, four-axis dual-duplex digital automatic flight control system (AFCS). The sensor package promises the biggest capability upgrade, and includes an electro-optical surveillance system; a multi-mode active electronically-scanned array (AESA) radar; cell phone detection and tracking system; and marine automatic identification system (AIS) transponder receiver. AN OPPORTUNITY FOR COMPARISON In 2016, Skies dispatched me to fly the CH-149 Cormorant with RCAF's 442 Squadron at CFB Comox. It was an opportunity for this former Air Force CH-113/A Labrador SAR pilot to see first-hand how the Cormorant had changed the job I did decades ago in those same mountains. I recall that the Cormorant brought a lot of new technology to the SAR business, but the basic mission, like the mountains around us, was unchanged. After that flight, I reported: “Flying SAR was still a matter of cautious and skillful flying, using maps and looking out the window.” That experience left me with great regard for Air Force SAR crews and for the operational capability of the Cormorant, but also bemused to find that the business of searching still basically relied upon the “Mark 1 eyeball.” A flight in the latest variant of the AW101 was a terrific opportunity for a more contemporary comparison. The experience would demonstrate that leading-edge systems–particularly electro-optic sensor technologies–offer SAR capabilities that are as much a generational improvement over the current Cormorant as the Cormorant was over my beloved ol' Labrador. A CANADIAN FLIES A NORWEGIAN HELICOPTER IN ENGLAND Leonardo Helicopters test pilot Richard “Russ” Grant kindly offered me the right seat for our demonstration flight. Veteran flight test engineer (FTE) Andy Cotton served as sensor operator. Conditions were ideal, under a clear sky with a warm (24 C) gentle breeze along the century-old former-Westlands grass runway. Our test helicopter was the sixth production machine destined for Norway, operated by Leonardo under U.K. Ministry of Defence registration ZZ015. The helicopter's empty weight was 11,039 kilograms with much of its SAR interior yet to be fitted. Adding 2,000 kilograms of fuel (roughly half its 4,150-kilogram capacity) and three crewmembers brought the takeoff mass to 13,517 kilograms, which was well below the maximum allowable gross weight of 15,600 kilograms. The Cormorant that Skies flew with RCAF's 442 Squadron, although fully equipped for SAR with a standard fuel load of 2,400 kilograms and a crew of six, had a gross takeoff mass of 13,800 kilograms, which was below the maximum allowable gross weight of 14,600 kilograms. Direct comparison is difficult to establish, but the Norwegian machine is both heavier with installed systems and has more installed power than the CH-149, so the net result may be expected to be about the same operational power margin. Rapid dispatch can be facilitated by starting the auxiliary power unit (APU) while strapping in. Grant talked me through the engine starting procedure from memory. Air Force crews will use a checklist, but the procedure was quick and straightforward Engine controls consisted of three rotary knobs on the overhead panel in place of engine condition levers. I monitored the start, but Grant advised that in the event of a start-up malfunction the FADEC would shut down the engine faster than the pilots could react. We started the No. 1 engine first to power the accessory drive, providing hydraulic and electric power and bleed air. Starts of engines No. 2 and No. 3 were done simultaneously. Pre-flight checks and initialization of the aircraft management system (AMS, but think “master computer”) took Grant only minutes. Despite the functional similarity of the cockpit to the CH-149, the impression that I was amidst unfamiliar new technology was immediate. As ground crews pulled the chocks and busied themselves around the helicopter, the onboard Obstacle Proximity LIDAR System (OPLS, where LIDAR is light detection and ranging, since I needed to ask, too) annunciated their presence around the turning rotors. This system, which Grant described as being like the parking sensors in a car, provided a pop-up display and discretely-pitched audio cues depicting the range and azimuth to obstacles around the helicopter. Having come from a generation where we squinted into a landing light beam to guesstimate rotor clearance from obstacles, all I can say is, I want one! Full article: https://www.skiesmag.com/features/an-investment-in-capability
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7 novembre 2019 | Local, Aérospatial, Naval, Terrestre, C4ISR, Sécurité
France Hébert appointed VP of Defence and Security for CAE Canada
CAE has announced the appointment of France Hébert to the position of vice-president, Defence and Security for the Canada region. Hébert will be taking on the position on Nov. 4, 2019 and she will report to Marc-Olivier Sabourin, vice-president, Defence and Security, CAE International. Hébert will lead the Defence and Security (D&S) business in Canada, shaping the vision and the operational and commercial strategy for the division, which includes 14 sites across the country. She will strategically position CAE to win large-scale procurement opportunities and continue to protect and maintain our leading position in the military training systems and solutions in Canada with our current programs. As an influential leader, she will be CAE's representative for D&S Canada with the federal Government and Canadian stakeholders. Over the course of her career, Hébert has held senior positions in strategy, business development and operations. She brings extensive leadership experience with a proven track record on complex, billion-dollar defence and aerospace programs. Through her varied career, she was an officer in the Canadian Armed Forces and worked for three companies playing major roles in Canada, namely: Bombardier, Nortel and General Dynamics Mission Systems – Canada (GDMS-C). Since 2017, Hébert was head of the land C4ISR business area for General Dynamics Mission Systems Canada, Ottawa. She was fully accountable for the line of business including all aspects of execution, operations and finance of the Canadian division. CAE is certain that Hébert's vast experience, knowledge and versatility will greatly contribute to the success of the Canada region. CAE would like to take this opportunity to sincerely thank Joe Armstrong, who continued to lead the Canada region along with his current role as vice-president, Business Operations while we were recruiting for the position. https://www.skiesmag.com/press-releases/france-hebert-appointed-vp-of-defence-and-security-for-cae-canada/