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Background
Comparisons — Beech King Air Conversions for ISR |
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ISR – TF ODIN and US Army C-12R Huron ARMS
The US Army flies a variety of modified Beech Huron light transports on 'spooky ' missions. Best known
is the antenna-festooned RC-12 Guardrail elint/signint aircraft. More relevant to Canada is the
C-12R ARMS ISR ( Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance) aircraft developed for Project Horned Owl
and fielded by Task Force ODIN. ARMS aircraft have belly
pods carrying the same synthetic aperture radar and camera turrets mounted in MQ-12 'Warrior Alpha ' UAVs.
[1]
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US Project Liberty Aircraft – Trying to Speed up the ISR King Air Acquisition Process
The newest ISR King Air type is the MC-12W Liberty of US Air Force and similar aircraft for Iraq. The
MC-12W is similar to the US Army's ARMS but based on larger and more powerful King Air 350 airframes. [2]
The MC-12W flew its first operational mission over Iraq in June of 2009 – quick by Air Force standards but
not quick enough for US Secretary of Defense, Bill Gates, who oversaw Project Liberty.
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In Project Liberty, Gates saw a return to business- as-usual for Air Force procurement. Both airframes and
integrated sensors were proven but somehow USAF officials failed to respond to the underlying urgency of
the project. Early in 2009, the US Army proposed that the Project Liberty aircraft simply be transferred
to Army Aviation. With SecDef Gates already cutting USAF orders, that got the attention of Air Force
officers who made Liberty top priority. The question for Canada is how this fits our plans.
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When Canada orders Kings Airs converted for ISR ,
naturally attention turns to the USAF MC-12W. But Canadian ISR King Airs are to be based on slightly
smaller 300-series airframes (prototype ISR convers- ions having already flown ). Canada's Government
has yet to see fit to inform Canadian citizens what it has spent their money on (or, indeed, which agency will
operate these spyplanes). What is known came from an official US source stating that in June 2011 Canada will field
two ISR King Airs in Afghanistan – presumably mini-MC-12Ws.[3]
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[1] Based on Global Atomic's I-GNAT, the
MQ-12 'Warrior Alpha'
is the US Army's more economical version of the USAF Predator UAV.
[2] The full range of King Air airframes have been employed for ISR duties. As an example, the US contractor
Dynamic Aviation provides King Air 90s, 100s, and 200s for ISR while, as noted, the US military operates
King Air 200s and 350s in that role. Canada now adds 300s.
[3] The real question is: who will operate these Canadian ISR King Airs? The CDS insists that the
military pull-out is on schedule. Private contractors are a possibility (following the model of Australia's Coastwatch where contracted personnel crew
government-owned aircraft). Another possibility is suggested by the rejected suggestion that USAF MC-12Ws in
Afghanistan be turned over to the ANA Air Corps. Might the Canadian King Airs become substitutes for
MC-12Ws, transferred to the Afghans when Canada no longer needs ISR at KAF ?
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