Preserving capacity, General Tom Lawson, Chief of the Defence Staff, Keys to Canadian SAR
Issue link: http://vanguardcanada.uberflip.com/i/533940
a aIr FORCE www.vanguardcanada.com JUNE/JULY 2015 23 in early October, the first aircraft was inducted in early November and delivered by mid- in December. "You don't see that happen too much nowadays," he said. Were it not for the ongoing modernization program, however, integrating ViaSat's VR-12 Ku/Ka dual-band communications system would not have been possible, Galley acknowledged. "The AIMP, especially the Block 3 installation, has provided an architecture that allows the RCAF to put much more comprehen- sive capabilities into the aircraft," he said. Although communica- tions had been enhanced, the aircraft lack the ability to move large amounts of data to the ground in near-real time. "They could transmit minimal amounts of data but considering the improve- ments in computer capability, they needed much broader band- width. That's how iBLOS came into place. And it is now really transitioning the CP-140 from the old anti-submarine warfare- type role to an ISR role over any terrain." Under the AIMP, the capability of 14 Auroras has been up- graded in three successive blocks. The first, completed in the early 2000s, brought all of the aircraft up to what Galley calls a "consistent configuration" of technology so they could accept more sophisticated modifications. Block 2, "the meaty phase," included navigation and flight instruments as well as commu- nications management and radar, all of which required exten- sive rewiring of the aircraft. Block 3 has delivered the "heart of the mission architecture," and included new sensors and a data management system which Galley says "has really changed the brains of the aircraft." (A fourth block is currently in definition and would make permanent wideband SATCOM and add capa- bilities like Link 16 data exchange network access and infra-red counter measures). "As far as military grade computers go, it was top notch," Gal- ley said of the Block 3 addition. "[It] was a fairly complicated modification in terms of integration, but it created the foundation for enhancements that could be put on to it and converted it into a multi-mission aircraft over land and sea. It opened up a whole new world for software." At the same time, the CP-140 has been undergoing a structural life extension program known as ASLEP. Once complete, Galley believes the two programs will deliver "a platform that can fly eas- ily into the 2030s." In theatre, the expanded sensor capability includes ground map- ping radar and electro-optical systems with heat-sensitive infrared cameras, plus electronic emissions collection and onboard analyti- cal capacity, and all have proven their worth. As the commander of the Air Task Force told Vice magazine in an interview earlier this year, "we...have absolutely cutting-edge equipment onboard the Aurora right now and I would argue...we are one of the best equipped assets here to do a surveillance mission... Once we syn- thesize all that information together, even aboard the aircraft, [we] can create a really good picture of what's happening, wheth- er [we] can actually see the object with the camera, or if it's with a radar or [we're] listening in to the electronic emissions that are coming from it." For Blondin, the quick reaction capability program to deliver the iBLOS system is a demonstration of how well the procure- ment system can function when the requirement is urgent. But it is also a reminder that while the CP-140's surveillance capabil- ity is almost unmatched – and it can now transmit that data at 10 megabytes per second to analysts anywhere on the ground or make assessments from the aircraft itself – it is a much costlier platform to operate than an unmanned aerial system (UAS). At an event in Ottawa, Blondin expressed frustration with the pace of the procurement system. The human analytical power on- board the CP-140 might demonstrate a capability that is superior to a UAS, but he nonetheless needs the on-station persistence promised by the Joint Unmanned Surveillance Target Acquisition System (JUSTAS), a project that has been exploring options for a decade. For now, though, iBLOS is setting a new standard for the RCAF. And because of a collaborative effort, IMP, ViaSat, L-3, and the department were able to not only deliver three aircraft in under 90 days, but even provide the third a week ahead of schedule. Photos: Op Impact