Vanguard Magazine

A E W & C www.vanguardcanada.com JUNE/JULY 2026 23 A typical AEW&C aircraft might detect targets at ranges of up to 500 km. A satellite at 300 km altitude, using a comparable radar, would have an effective footprint at the Earth's surface of approximately 400 km in radius. That satellite would be mov- ing at roughly 8 km per second, meaning it could only observe a given location for about 100 seconds before passing overhead. Maintaining continuous coverage would require a succession of satellites passing over the same area. A single orbital ring could require dozens of satellites to avoid gaps. Because the Earth rotates beneath those orbits, multiple rings would be needed to maintain persistent coverage across the globe. Even under optimistic assumptions, this implies constellations numbering in the thousands. In practice, inefficiencies, overlap, and coverage gaps would push that number higher. Operating at higher altitudes, with more power, to increase each satellites operating footprint quickly becomes impossible due to the radar power equation, which demonstrates that increasing the distance to a target by 2x increases the power needed to detect it by 16x. Even at lower altitudes, power is a major constraint. Solar power is the only economical option for a satellite network of this scale, but the practical limitation on the size of solar col- lectors and the nature of orbits which pass into darkness will prevent full-power operations at all times. A pair of satellites, with one receiving and one transmitting at any time, will both reduce power requirements by limiting self-interference and al- low the two satellites to swap between high-power transmitting and low-power receiving tasks. If that's insufficient, there's no inherent reason why constellations of 4, 6, or more satellites can't fly together and operate cyclically. The cost of this would increase, but still likely be lower than replacing each satellite's solar systems with a nuclear generator. This would have the side-benefit of creat- ing redundancy in case one satellite fails due to malfunction or hostile interven- tion. Taken together, these factors suggest that a truly persistent, space-based alter- native to AEW&C could require constel- lations numbering in the thousands, if not tens of thousands. Canada is a world-leader in the use of space technologies. Sources vary some- what by methodology, but Canada is rou- tinely included among the top 10 nations in terms of satellites controlled either by its government or entities within the country—sometimes within the top 5. However, the total number is probably best measured in the dozens, and is cer- tainly less than 200. 10,000 satellites is a very different scale. This is where the United States differs fundamentally from Canada. The only entity in the world to have launched more than 10,000 satellites is US-based SpaceX, which has recently eclipsed that figure as part of its Star- For decades, American airpower has relied on large AEW&C fleets, including the Air Force's E-3 Sentry and the Navy's E-2 Hawkeye. NATO E-3A AWACS aircra. Photo: NATO OUR CAPABILITIES INCLUDE: • Global aerospace MRO support for aircraft, rotorcraft, engine, and avionics. • Complete engine MRO for GE T700/CT7 and J85; Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A/PT6T, PW100/150 and PW200; Pratt & Whitney F135; CFM International CFM56-7B; Rolls-Royce T56, AE 2100, AE 1107, M250 and RR300; Safran Arriel 1 & Arriel 2. • Full engineering, design and certification capability including reliability-based and predictive maintenance. YOUR READINESS IS OUR FIRST PRIORITY Bringing best-in-class aviation services to our military partners StandardAero.com RAISING THE STANDARD OF EXCELLENCE

• Cover