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Background
– FWSAR – Fixed-Wing Search and Rescue Project |
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Update 05 Feb 2012: The Harper Cabinet is said to have signed off on the FWSAR Project. That lurches
this zombie project back to where it's been before. In July 2010, an FWSAR Industry Day was
announced to cover a revised Statement of Operational Requirements and to investigate Alternative
Service Delivery options. The outcome has not been made public. Canada also signed a binding SAR treaty with members of the Arctic
Council. But DND has yet to finish reviewing a March 2010 National Research Council report on the
FWSAR SOR. The NRC report states "other options
are now available to Canada to increase and not just to maintain its...SAR capability, including...use of
UAVs, jets instead of
turboprops, satellite imaging, and...SAR...carried out by an agency or organization other
than the CF." The NRC report was in response to industry allegations that DND skewed the FWSAR SOR
to favour C-27Js by
an insistance on southern basing.
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Fixed-Wing Search and Rescue is a stalled, on-again/off-again project to replace six remaining CC-115 Buffalo while relieving the Hercules fleet
of SAR duties. The FWSAR project became an Air Force catch-all, expanding to include: tactical transport,
spares delivery, and arctic utility.[1] This conceptual bloat was accompanied by
corresponding demands for greater size and increased performance. Nevertheless, upon becoming Chief of
Air Staff, LGen Angus Watt made the FWSAR project his top priority. Some $6B would be required to buy 15 new
FWSAR aircraft. [2]
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Two candidates are in the running as FWSAR replacements – the EADS/CASA C-295 (left) and
Alenia C-27J (right). Both are tactical transports
with turboprop engines, pressurized fuselages, and rear ramps. Other FWSAR submissions were rejected for
lacking these features. These included Bombardier's Q200 (or Dash 8) which has no ramp and the
amphibious CL-415 flying boat which has neither ramp nor pressurization. From the outset, the Air Force's favourite
in the FWSAR contest has obviously – some might say blatantly – been the larger C-27J
Spartan. [3]
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The C-27J Spartan is the favoured FWSAR aircraft because it meets requirements for high transit
speeds between southern air bases and the Arctic for SAR missions. And there is the rub. The C-27Js would take 6
hours to fly from Trenton to Resolute. [4] At the end of a 3500 km trip, SAR Techs may have to jump on
a crash site. An impossible task to ask of anyone. Nor is a C-27Js a real Twin Otter replacement - instead, arctic utility would be eclipsed by a tactical transport
role.[5]
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The C-27J received a boost due to its commonality [6] with C-130J Hercules. Neither FWSAR candidate can match Buffalo performance [7], but
CC-115s became SAR aircraft by happenstance anyway (becoming surplus when the AF decided to dump medium
tactical transports). Most importantly, FWSAR is based on an outdated premise. Many allies are privatizing aerial SAR. So why retain it? The Air Force sees SAR as a
prestige role with CFB Comox as
a plum posting. Ironic then that the notion of new Buffalo tailored to Comox has been introduced
by Viking just as the purchase of yet another foreign-built becomes politically unpalatable.
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FWSAR Candidate – Alenia C-27J
Spartan Specifications
| Origin: |
Aeritalia (Fiat) G.222 (GE T-64 turboprops),
1970 |
| Dimen: |
span 28.7m, wing area 82m2, length 22.7m,
ht 9.69m |
| Power: |
2 x Rolls-Royce AE 2100-D2, 3457 kW
(4637 shp) |
| Ceiling: |
service 9145 m (30000 ft), engine out
4420m |
| Range: |
4260 km (2300 nm) 6t payload, ferry 5926
km |
| Weight: |
MTOW (basic) 30500 kg, landing 27500
kg |
| Speed: |
600 km/h (325 kts) max cruise |
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FWSAR Candidate –
EADS (CASA) C-295 Specifications
| Origin: |
Airtech (CASA and IPTN ' Nusantara' )
CN-235 |
| Dimen: |
Span 25.8m, wing area 59m2, length 24.45m,
ht 8.66m |
| Power: |
2 x P&W Canada PW127G, 1972 kW (2609
shp) |
| Ceiling: |
service 9145 m (30000 ft) |
| Range: |
4167 km (2250 nm) 6t payload, ferry 5630
km |
| Weight: |
MTOW (basic) 21000 kg, landing 20700
kg |
| Speed: |
482 km/h (260 kts) max cruise |
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[1] The medium tactical transport jobs would be in the far North, as done by the
Buffalo. A FWSAR requirement is carrying an assembled propeller for field replacements
(Mobile Repair Parties). The arctic utility option studied would replace 4 x CC-138 Twin Otters one-for-one
(despite a huge difference in relative size between the two aircraft types) necessitating increasing the FWSAR order
from 15 to 19 aircraft.
[2] Originally, requests for proposal were anticipated in 2006 ($1.3B had been promised in the 2004 budget). Instead,
the project was stuck in the "Pre-Definition" phase. During the 2005/2006 election campaign, Conservatives
advocated purchase of the C-27J to fill the FWSAR requirement. However, FWSAR was conspicuously absent
in the Harper government's June 2006 announcements on defence spending and, reportedly, all the monies
originally allocated to DND for FWSAR in the 2004 budget had to be returned to Treasury Board unspent.
In a surprise announcement, the Air Force revealed that they were studying the possibility of re-engining the surviving fleet of
Buffalo. In Nov 2008, Le Devoir claimed that the C-27J was DND's top priority. Prices were
back to the original $1.3B with another 1.5B for 20 years of support, totalling $2.8B. In Sept. 2008, the Ottawa
Citizen reported the establishment of a FWSAR Project Management Office to study the C-27J and other candidates.
Peter MacKay failed to gain Cabinet approval to buy C-27Js before the onset of the 2008 general election.
[3] EADS/CASA protested when press reports suggested that DND would prefer to dispense with the competition and
place direct orders for the C-27J. When a C-295 was flown north to demonstrate its abilities in the Arctic,
personnel from 440 Squadron boycotted its display.
[4] The transit speed for the C-27J is listed at 325kts (600km/h). The flying distance from CFB Trenton to Resolute
Bay is 2179nm (3500km).
[5] To support the Canadian Rangers, 440 Sqn Twin Otter operate from extremely rough fields on 'tundra'
tires, they routinely fly from sea ice and snow on skis, and, in the past, also flew on float gear. None
of these activities can be duplicated by either candidate for FWSAR.
[6] Due to an earlier relationship with Lockheed Martin, the Italian aircraft now has a similar cockpit and
uses two of the same engines as the C-130J. The former could simplify crew training, the latter provides parts commonality
(the C-130J maintenance package will determine whether there are any other benefits). The Spanish CASA has no
CF commonality – the small CT-142 trainer fleet uses the less powerful PW120A engine.
However, unlike the C-27J's AE2100, the C-295's Canadian PW127 is in very widescale commercial operation in
Canada.
[7] Neither FWSAR candidate matches the Buffalo's STOL characteristics. This is more relevant to the
CC-115's secondary Arctic supply duties than to SAR. However, slow flying is a part of SAR (especially when dropping
flares). Both FWSAR candidates have substantially higher wing loadings than the Buffalo (C-295 -
80.5 lbs/ft2; C-27J - 75 lbs/ft2; CC-115 - 52.07 lbs/ft2) which affects
slow-flying performance. Viking Air (DHC-5 rights holder) claim that top speed performance
of new-production Buffalos can be improved with new PW150 engines.
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