Preserving capacity, General Tom Lawson, Chief of the Defence Staff, Keys to Canadian SAR
Issue link: http://vanguardcanada.uberflip.com/i/89342
ADVERTORIAL Changes in climate, technology, and demand for natural THE ARCTIC IS EVOLVING. resources are seeing more and more people travel to, and work in, the North. This is unquestionably an economic boon, but it also likely means Canada will face renewed challenges to our territorial claims. sserting sovereignty, howev- er, is about more than wav- ing fl ags or fl exing muscles. It's about making sure that the government is able to provide a simi- lar standard of core services to Canadi- ans in all parts of the country, even the most remote. Indeed, the Prime Minister made this point during his recent Arctic tour, where he emphasized the need for greater research and search and rescue capabilities in the North. For Search and Rescue (SAR), that's cur- rently not the case. Winnipeg, the nearest SAR base to the North Pole, is 2400 NM away. Even for SAR missions in compara- tively nearer parts of the Arctic, it takes a C-130 from Winnipeg more than three hours fl ying-time to reach Yellowknife, even longer when factoring in time to actually get in the air. The best way of cutting this response time is to reduce the distance planes need to fl y. And the easiest way of do- ing that is to create a dedicated fi xed- wing SAR presence in the North. Higher aircraft speed may save minutes, but cutting transit distance saves hours, and those hours can be the difference between life and death in this oft times hostile environment. The next best way to cut response time is to increase the effectiveness of search through proven modern technologies – which today are available off the shelf at reasonable cost. The Arctic may be changing, but the expectations of Canadians are not. When in distress, particularly in some of the most remote places in the world, they expect reliable and prompt search and rescue services. Providing that level of service saves lives while reminding the world that the Arctic belongs to Canada. Airbus Military's C295 is proven, reli- able, and low-risk SAR. Based in the north, it offers unmatched cost and search ef- fectiveness. Sponsored by