By David Pugliese
Delivery of New Fixed-Wing Search and Rescue Aircraft Opens The Door to a New Era for the RCAF
With the arrival of the first C-295 fixed-wing search and rescue aircraft at CFB Comox on Sept. 17 the Royal Canadian Air Force is now preparing its crew training regime and getting ready for the delivery of additional planes.
The second and third aircraft are anticipated to arrive in Canada by the end of 2020, Department of National Defence spokeswoman Jessica Lamirande told Esprit de Corps.
Aircrew interim training is scheduled to start in November, followed by initial operational testing and evaluation in early 2021, she added. Both activities will be conducted at 19 Wing, Comox.
Initial operational capability is anticipated in summer 2022, Lamirande noted.
A $2.4 billion contract for 16 new CC-295 fixed-wing search and rescue aircraft to replace Canada’s fleets of Buffalo and Hercules H aircraft was awarded to Airbus Defence and Space on December 1, 2016. The contract also includes all In-Service Support elements, training and engineering services, the construction of a new training centre in Comox, BC and maintenance and support services.
«Airbus is really proud to be able to celebrate this important milestone: the arrival of the first out of 16 Fixed Wing Search and Rescue C295 at the Canadian Forces Base Comox,” Airbus Defence and Space Chief Executive Officer, Dirk Hoke, said in a video statement displayed during the official aircraft welcome event held at the 19 Wing Comox Air Base. “Thanks to the excellent collaboration with Canadian officials we have overcome the challenges caused by COVID-19 and we were able to deliver the aircraft. Despite the current pandemic, we are confident of achieving the program target of six deliveries by the end of this year. We look forward to our continued collaboration and to the C295 Canada.”
Aircraft will roll off the production line at an average rate of five per year, with the sixteenth expected to come off the assembly line in mid-2022. That final aircraft will be delivered sometime in the fall of that year. Each aircraft must complete initial operational capability preparations and testing to be ready for service, according to the RCAF. The new aircraft will be referred to as Kingfishers.
The RCAF will operate the new fixed-wing fleet from 19 Wing Comox, 8 Wing Trenton, 14 Wing Greenwood, and 17 Wing Winnipeg; the same locations currently providing search and rescue services across the country.
Five aircraft will be based first at 19 Wing Comox, with two of those allocated to the Operational Training Unit, Lamirande noted. Then, three aircraft will be at 8 Wing Trenton, three aircraft will operate out of 14 Wing Greenwood, and finally, three aircraft will be based at 17 Wing Winnipeg. The remaining two aircraft will be rotated through the four bases to cover periods where aircraft must undergo maintenance, she added.
The new CC-295 FWSAR aircraft are being equipped with sensor suites that will include a search radar to detect objects from long range (more than 40 kilometers, depending on object size) and in all weather conditions; an electro-optical/infra-red sensor to detect and identify objects, including heat radiation during searches where vision is obscured (e.g. night searches, searching in wooded areas, etc.); an automatic identification system to identify and locate transponder-equipped ships; a communication system that will increase interoperability with other search and rescue assets; and, a new mission management system that can record and track multiple search objects at the same time.
The RCAF provided to Esprit de Corps a list of equipment and design changes that are unique to Canada’s CC-295s. They include:
• Rockwell Collins ProLine Fusion Cockpit
• Head Up Display (HUD)/Enhanced Vision System (EVS)
• Bubble Windows
• Surveillance Radar made by ELTA
• Electro Optical (EO)/Infrared (IR) (MX15 model)
• Dual Satellite Communications (SATCOM) installation
• Cyber security firewall
• Wireless Intercom System (WIS)
• Drag reduction – main landing gear doors, vanes
• Fuselage reinforcement for ditching + ditching hatch
• Wing reinforcements (to meet fatigue life requirements)
• Semi Prepared Runway Operations (SPRO) improvements (gravel
deflector or reinforced radome)
• Computed Air Release Point (CARP)
• Health and Usage Monitoring System (HUMS)
• Marker Dispenser Tube (MDT)
• Aeromedical configuration – patient treatment area
• Paint Scheme – non-slip paint on upper surface, propeller tip paint
• Lavatory / galley layout
The Rockwell Collins ProLine Fusion Cockpit, the Electro Optical/Infrared and the Surveillance Radar are seen by the RCAF as some of the more important attributes of the aircraft.
Part of the project includes the construction of a new training centre, which is being built in Comox by CAE. That centre includes ten classrooms, as well as sophisticated training devices such as a full-flight simulator, a cockpit procedures trainer, a sensor station simulator, and an aircraft maintenance trainer. The centre will be used to train both maintenance and aircrews.
Canadian company AirPro will provide day-to-day management of all in-service support for the provision of engineering, logistics, maintenance, training, IT systems, infrastructure and materiel support throughout the contracted CC-295 life cycle. Significant high-value jobs have been and will continue to be generated from this contract with Canadian companies such as PAL Aerospace, Pratt and Whitney Canada, CAE, and AirPro, according to the federal government.
In preparation for the training of maintenance crews a C-295 aircraft arrived at CFB Comox in February. The big difference between that plane and the one that arrived Sept. 17 is that the earlier aircraft, while almost identical to a C-295, does not have nor need the full mission equipment capability to conduct search and rescue missions. It is not one of the 16 C-295 aircraft being procured under the fixed wing search and rescue project. Instead, it is considered an additional asset that is part of the training solution and will be taken apart. “It will be used to train maintenance technicians on rigging, removal and reinstallation procedures,” explained Department of National Defence spokesman Dan Le Bouthillier. “Therefore, not all components need to be operationally functional and can instead be less expensive replicas.”
That plane will be registered as a training asset, not an aircraft.
