Vanguard Magazine

f fWsar www.vanguardcanada.com DECEMBER 2015/JANUARY 2016 13 T he C-27J took a sharp turn to the right and headed straight into the dark clouds hovering just past the blue skies. No, the multi-mission airlifter was not flying towards some trouble spot. It was merely car- rying its Peruvian crew on the first leg of their journey home after concluding a media briefing with Canadian reporters at the Gatineau-Ottawa Executive Airport. The C-27J is Finmeccanica-Alenia Aermacchi's entry to the Royal Canadian Air Force's (RCAF) request for proposal for a fixed-wing search and rescue (FWSAR) aircraft to replace its current fixed-wing SAR fleet. Bids were initially supposed to be in by September 28, 2015, but the process has been extended and now competing compa- nies have until January 11, to submit their entries. The FWSAR program was originally meant to replace the remaining fleet of six DeHavilland CC-115 Buffalos while relieving the Cana- dian Forces Hercules fleet of its SAR duties. Planning for the FWSAR replacements began back in 2002 and funding for 15 new aircraft amounting to $1.3 billon was allocated in March 2004. However the program has been plagued with woes and delays. That budget is now $1.55 billion. Apart from the Italian-made C-27J, two other aircrafts are widely considered as frontrunners: the C295 from Airbus Mili- tary and Lockheed Martin's C-130J. Boeing-Bell has said their V-22 Osprey would not be offered as a FWSAR candidate. Bombardier has also indicated that it is no longer offering its Q series Dash 8 planes for the project because of the rear ramp requirement on the FWSAR aircraft. Steve Lucas, senior advisor to Alenia Aermacchi, is confident that Team Spartan, the alliance of Canadian aerospace companies that are working with Alenia to provide requisite "Canadian con- tent" and services, will deliver the goods the RCAF is looking for. "The C-27J offers the best solution FWSAR solution for Cana- da," Lucas told Vanguard Magazine. "It flies faster, higher, carries more payload at longer distances and can operate from smaller airfields than its direct competitors." Beyond the operational performance of the C-27J, Team Spar- tan also offers an industrial benefits package that includes hun- dreds of long-term, high value jobs and extensive investments in Canadian firms and technology, he said. "Our value proposition mix and Canadian participation are the highest quality," according to Lucas. mission requirements Canada has one of the most challenging search and rescue envi- ronment in the world. The country comprises the second largest landmass in the world encompassing approximately 18 square ki- lometers surrounded by the longest coastline. The Canadian SAR area extends from the Rocky Mountains, our territorial waters and the Arctic. The expanse is subject to temperatures from 40 C to -50 C. The FWSAR aircraft must be able to reach the most remote Canadian location in the shortest time. The FWSAR fleet must have 95% availability for at least one aircraft in each SR region and a second aircraft must be available 70% of the time. The country's three Joint Rescue Coordination Centres in Hali- fax, Nova Scotia, Trenton, Ontario, and Victoria, British Colum- bia handle an average of 8,000 air and marine SAR cases each year. Canadian Force aircraft alone conduct more than 1,000 missions a year. Fixed-wing SAR missions include responding to downed aircraft emergencies and distressed vessels, emergency medical evacuation from remote communities, as well as assisting provincial and ter- ritorial authorities. The FWSAR aircraft will need observation windows on either side of the fuselage with corresponding observer seats and an in- tensive care medevac package. The RFP requires a surveillance radar with a mandatory 220 degree FOV (360 degree-rated), and an Electro Optical/Infrared turret fully managed by an avionics- integrated mission system with the ability to downlink imagery. Also required is a satellite voice and data communications capa- bility and sensor operator/mission manager workstation or work- stations along with a flight management system with performance in line with the latest International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) performance-based navigation standards. To accomplish its primary mission as a SAR aircraft and its sec- ondary mission as a tactical transport, the FWSAR airplane would require ramp access to the cargo area. The twin Rolls Royce engines of the Peruvian Air Force's C-27J transport and search and rescue aircra roared in urgency. In an instant the airplane was speeding down the tarmac and in mere seconds its front wheels lied off the ground and the aircra leaped into the air even before it was halfway down the runway.

• Cover