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By Murray Brewster, THE CANADIAN PRESS April 13, 2008 OTTAWA - Canada's geriatric fleet of fixed-wing search and rescue aircraft, originally ordered replaced five years ago, will have to keep flying until at least 2014 and possibly longer, federal budget documents have revealed. The air force has been struggling to keep its 40-year-old, twin-engine Buffalos in the air along the West Coast, where their slow speed makes them ideal for searching mountain ranges. Opposition critics say the unacceptable delay in replacing the six aircraft - which face frequent downtime because of a looming shortage of spare parts - makes a mockery the Conservative government's self-titled Canada First defence strategy. "It's laughable," said New Democrat defence critic Dawn Black, a British Columbia MP. "Search and rescue is becoming the orphan-child of the Canadian Forces in terms of equipment." The air force relies on both the Buffalo and an aging flight of C-130 Hercules cargo planes for fixed-wing search. In addition, there 14 CH-149 Cormorant helicopters, which have had a spotty in-service record because of a shortage of spare parts. Black said the Conservatives' procrastination over the Buffalo has started to look a lot like the former Liberal government's decade-long puttering replacement program for Sea King helicopters. "They are just so preoccupied with the war in Afghanistan that nothing else really registers," said Black, whose party was adamantly opposed to the extension of the Afghan mission. The Defence Department's report on plans and priorities for the new budget year says the Buffalo replacement project will only proceed into its definition phase this year, with the delivery of new aircraft not expected until 2014-15. The new chief of air staff, Lt.-Gen. Angus Watt, said at his swearing-in ceremony last summer that a proposal for new fixed-wing search planes would go before the federal cabinet "soon." The air force had done contingency planning to keep the Buffalos flying until 2015, but officials said last fall that no firm decision had been made because there was concern about a dwindling supply of spare parts. In order to carry on until then, air staff planners said they would have to purchase retired Brazilian air force Buffalos to cannibalize. The Conservatives promised in the last election campaign to replace the Buffalos with 15 brand-new aircraft. The pledge came one year after the former Liberal government announced it was spending $3 billion to buy new search planes - a promise that couldn't be fulfilled before the defeat of Paul Martin's government. One of the aircraft-makers that has been waiting five years for the replacement project to get under way says Canadian aerospace companies could end up being hurt by a prolonged delay. Aleina North America, a subsidiary of Italian-owned Alenia Aeronautica, has been trying to convince the Defence Department to look at its C-27J Spartan. The company recently won a major contract with the Pentagon, and president Giuseppe Giordo said they have been talking with potential Canadian part suppliers. "The program has already been delayed so long," Giordo said in an interview. "The Canadian government has obviously decided to proceed with more pressing programs, related to Afghanistan, such as the C-17 (heavy-lift planes) and the C-130-J (medium-lift aircraft). But clearly one day or another the Canadian government will have to take care of its domestic needs." Giordo said the current fleet is old and he wonders whether it can hold on until 2014-15. The air force is proceeding with a life-extension program on the Buffalos that is expected to cost around $75 million. The work will focus on replacing the engines, strengthening the airframes and replacing the landing gear.
DND to patch aging rescue planes as replacements put on back burnerBuffalos to be upgraded to fly until at least 2015, five years after they were supposed to be retiredDavid Pugliese, The Ottawa CitizenPublished: Monday, May 12, 2008The Defence Department will upgrade the radios and other avionics equipment on its aging Buffalo search-and-rescue planes to keep them flying until at least 2015, five years past when they were supposed to be retired.This latest move signals that the program to replace the 40-year-old aircraft, key to search and rescue on the west coast and in parts of the Rockies, is no longer a priority, say defence industry officials.The air force strategy for 2008, obtained by the Citizen, shows that new search-and-rescue planes won't arrive until 2015 at the earliest and won't all be in place until 2017.That means the air force is going to have to make do with the Buffalos, first purchased in 1967 and scheduled to retire in 2010.Those aircraft are already facing mechanical and technical problems and in December the air force ran out of spare propellers for the planes.Military officials say it is difficult to acquire parts for the aircraft, based at CFB Comox in British Columbia, since the plane is no longer in production and only a few organizations around the world continue to operate them.The Defence Department will proceed with what it is calling the "Buffalo Avionics Life Extension -- Lite," which will upgrade various systems on the planes. Some of the instruments now in the Buffalo do not conform to current civilian aviation standards, potentially limiting where the planes can fly in civilian airspace, pilots have said.The Defence Department expects to have the first upgraded aircraft ready by January of next year.The estimated cost of the project is $4.6 million, defence spokeswoman Krista Hannivan wrote in an e-mail. "Proven off-the-shelf technologies are being purchased through Field Aviation, of Calgary -- the prime component contractor for the CC-115 -- and integrated into the fleet," she added.The upgrade will replace outdated aircraft electronic equipment and bring the Buffalo in line with modern aviation electronics standards to take the aircraft to 2015, the e-mail noted. The project will include new radios, instrument landing system receivers, emergency locator transmitters and flight data recorders, among other equipment."Of course, modernizing search-and-rescue aircraft is essential to supporting the air force's no-fail mission in providing search and rescue services to Canadians," Ms. Hannivan wrote.Some previous news reports have indicated there are plans to upgrade or replace engines on the Buffalos, but defence officials could not comment on that.The air force is also looking at an upgrade to keep some of its older Hercules aircraft flying until new search-and-rescue aircraft arrive in the 2015-17 timeframe, according to the air force's 2008 strategy.In a January message to air force personnel, the service's commander, Lt.-Gen. Angus Watt, said acquiring a new search-and-rescue aircraft to replace the Buffalos and Hercules "is another high priority for me. We will manage and maintain our current Hercules and Buffalo fleets so that they can continue to perform this vital role until a new aircraft enters operational service."In September 2003, then-chief of the defence staff Gen. Ray Henault announced that the $1.3-billion purchase of new search-and-rescue planes was the top equipment priority for the military. In the spring of 2004, the Liberal government said it was fast-tracking the project. Military officials said they would approach industry in September 2004 to begin the competition. The first aircraft was supposed to be delivered sometime in 2006.Little has happened in the meantime. In the past, air force officials have blamed the lack of action on the fact that the Afghanistan mission is dominating most of the military's efforts these days. In addition, air force officers say acquiring new Chinook helicopters and C-130J aircraft is their new priority.The issue of ongoing funding problems for the air force and the lack of action on purchasing new search-and-rescue aircraft came up in the House of Commons several weeks ago after questions were asked by NDP MPs Catherine Bell and Dawn Black.Defence Minister Peter MacKay accused the NDP of not supporting Canadian troops and of being "in the Communist corner."© The Ottawa Citizen 2008
Operators Abu Dhabi Brazil Cameroon Canada Canadian Forces Chile: Chilean Air Force (Retired) Democratic Republic of the Congo (previously Zaire) Ecuador Egypt Indonesia Kenya Mauritania Mexico: Mexican Navy Oman: Oman Police Air Wing Peru Peruvian Air Force (Retired) Sudan Tanzania Togo United States: United States Army Zambia
http://argent.canoe.com/infos/canada/archives/2007/10/20071022-072854.htmlLe Brésil et le Canada sont les deux seuls pays au monde à encore utiliser ce modèle particulier de CC-115. Il a été impossible de rejoindre les dirigeants du ministère de la Défense nationale responsables du matériel afin de savoir s'ils avaient tenté d'exploiter l'option brésilienne pour obtenir des pièces de rechange.
Inferno .... you've just described a Buffalo
Or a C-160 transal, or a C-27 or..........
. . . . or an Aeritalia/Alenia G.222
Thanks for proving my point !
They're French C160s.
If you are referring to my post above, it is referring to my post above it.Unless the Americans have started flying around with "Armée de l'Air" stenciled on the side of their aircraft?
Well then we must be in agreement.Because in the post I referenced, #582, the C27, the one with the big "US Air Force" stenciled on the fuselage, is clearly not a C160 . . . engines being a clear Type marker in this case and the picture clearly shows not a Tyne in sight.I do miss the unique sound of the Tynes . . . they were on the Fairchild 227's that Nordair used on DEW Line Lateral flights and when you heard them, it meant you were "getting out". Fond memories.
[OT alert]Haletown, the Tyne did indeed have a characteristic noise, as did the Dart....funny how there are soem things you remember like that!CheersG2G[/OT alert]
From someone there, three French C-160 Transalls.MarkOttawa
Haletown: The Cool Pool.MarkOttawa
So is the aircraft currently near the Terminal in Cold Lake right now a C-27?
From someone there, three French C-160 Transalls.
