Vanguard Magazine

Aug/Sept 2014

Preserving capacity, General Tom Lawson, Chief of the Defence Staff, Keys to Canadian SAR

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When Pedro Mas heard a government offi cial de- scribe Canada's next fi xed-wing search and res- cue aircraft as a "no fail" platform, it was music to his ears. "We feel very comfortable because it is...our strongest point," said the head of Airbus Defence and Space in Canada of the C295, a proven air- craft already performing SAR missions in Portu- gal, Finland, Chile and with the U.S. Coast Guard. The government has indicated it will be seek- ing a SAR solution rather than just an aircraft or mission system, and will ask industry to propose the size and number of aircraft, as well as basing options, to deliver that solution. That, too, plays to Airbus's strengths, Mas be- lieves, thanks to its Canadian partners, which include Pratt & Whitney Canada (engine), CAE (simulation and training) and Vector Aerospace (engine maintenance). The company recently signed an MOU with Provincial Aerospace (PAL) to provide in-service support should its bid be successful. Equally important, though, is PAL's depth of experience with SAR mission systems. "They are providing services to the Canadian government tracking icebergs, search and rescue, fi sheries control, and many other things," Mas said. "As far as we know, they are the fi rst company in Canada with such experience." Although there have been many false starts to the FWSAR program, an RFP is expected before the end of 2014, followed by a contract award in 2015. More importantly, FWSAR could be the fi rst major procurement program to be competed un- der the government's new Defence Procurement Strategy (DPS) and Mas says it is already having an impact. "One year ago we had a nice view of the IRBs and the Canadian content requirement. And now it has changed. Now we are receiving documents called High Value Work, which are part of the val- ue proposition." Though he is pleased with the process and the level of engagement with government and National Defence, the shift from Industrial and Regional Benefi ts to technological benefi ts has affected how Airbus thinks about Canadian con- tent. "We know that the value proposition for high value work is going to have important weight in the fi nal decision," he said. "That means we are paying a lot of attention to this point." Airbus has accumulated a healthy IRB bank www.vanguardcanada.com AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2014 7 S Sit REP adjusting to the Dps effect account with Industry Canada through previous contracts involving Airbus Commercial and Mili- tary and Eurocopter, which it hopes to leverage with FWSAR. Nonetheless, the DPS means that Mas is still actively looking for technology part- ners. T O L E A R N M O R E V I S I T : S C OT T S A F E T Y.C O M Copyright © 2011 Scott Safety. All Rights Reserved. T O L E A R N M O R E V I S I T : LET'S WORK. S co t t S a fe t y a re wo r l d l e a d e r s i n t h e d e s i g n a n d d eve l o p m e n t o f Re s p i ra to r y P ro te c t i o n Eq u i p m e n t ( R P E ) . We h ave a d e t a i l e d u n d e r st a n d i n g o f t h e p hys i o l o g i c a l a n d p syc h o l o g i c a l b u rd e n R P E c a n p l a ce o n u s e r s . Th a t i s w hy we te st i n t h e f i e l d . We a p p l y w h a t we l e a r n t h e re – a s we l l a s e m e rg i n g re s e a rc h a n d te c h n o l o g i e s to eve r y d e s i g n to e n s u re s u p e r i o r c a p a b i l i t y, f u n c t i o n a l i t y a n d co m fo r t . I r re s p e c t i ve o f w h e t h e r yo u r re q u i re m e n t i s fo r C B R N p ro te c t i o n , B re a t h i n g A p p a ra t u s fo r E O D, U SA R , D a m a g e Co n t ro l , L aw E n fo rce m e n t , F i re F i g h t i n g o r fo r s p e c i a l i st a p p l i c a t i o n s S co t t c a n m e e t yo u r re q u i re m e n t s - Co m fo r t a b l y OUR FOUNDATION IS OUR TECHNOLOGIES, OUR MISSION IS EXPANDING YOUR CAPABILITIES. Brazil recently added three more C295s to its fl eet of 12 Airbus search and rescue aircra .

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