By Ken Pole | March 31, 2015 Estimated reading time 2 minutes, 59 seconds.
Canada purchased its CC-130H Hercules fleet in 1996. Along with the CC-115 Buffalo, the H-model Hercs will be replaced with a new fixed-wing search-and-rescue platform. DND Photo
The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) is a critical step closer to acquiring a new fleet of fixed-wing search and rescue (FWSAR) aircraft. On March 31, Public Works and Government Service Canada (PWGSC) posted a Request for Proposal (RFP) which is likely to lead to the purchase of around 18 platforms of a single design. The deadline for industry to respond is Sept. 28, 2015.
The new aircraft would replace two aging fleets: six de Havilland CC-115 Buffalos based at RCAF base Comox, B.C., and 11 Lockheed Martin CC-130H Hercules aircraft.
“The intent . . . is to procure a fleet of new sensor-equipped aircraft, including long-term in-service support (ISS) for a period up to 20 years,” PWGSC noted in the RFP post. The long-awaited announcement follows a draft RFP, which has served as a platform for several “industry engagement events” since August 2013.
While the notion of a mixed fleet of two aircraft types has been floating around for some time, BGen Phil Garbutt, director force development at National Defence Headquarters, confirmed to Skies that a single type is the RCAF’s preference. “By about 2018-ish, we’ll see the first of the fixed-wing SAR aircraft come through and ultimately replace the Buffalo, and then eventually the H-model Hercs,” he said in an interview.
Acknowledging long-running delays in the FWSAR project, Garbutt said the RCAF is “bullish” about FWSAR. “We see the aging Buffalo as kind of being the critical aircraft in all of this. . . . Worldwide, we’ve tapped into about all the sources of supply we could find for that, so the sooner we can replace that aircraft, I think it’s in the best interests of our SAR operation.”
Having flown Buffalos and Boeing Vertol CH-113 Labrador SAR helicopters in his career, Garbutt acknowledged that the ratio of maintenance to flight hours has become problematic with the Buffalo. “Depending on how much money you want to spend, you can sustain aircraft forever, but the value for your dollar becomes questionable.”
Potential bidders on the FWSAR RFP include Airbus (C-295); Alenia (C-27J Spartan); Lockheed Martin (C-130J Hercules); and potentially Bell Boeing (V-22 Osprey) and Embraer (KC-390).
