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Canadian Defence Procurement — June 2003 [revised January 2004]
Politics, Procurement Practices, and Procrastination:
the Quarter-Century Sea King Helicopter
Replacement Saga
MHP Sidebar — Obsessing Over Size? or Just Missing the Point?
While DND ruminated upon future Sea King replacements, a
significant international ASW helicopter trend seems to have gone largely unnoticed — a move toward
smaller, more agile shipboard aircraft. Leading the way was the Westland Lynx, naval versions of
which [left] first appeared in the mid-1970s. In Royal Navy service, the capable Sea Lynx were
intended to
augment the mid-sized ASW Sea Kings, not replace them.
Westland, makers of the Lynx, also licence-built the Sea King for the Royal Navy and export. The
idea behind the Sea Lynx was that this helicopter could operate from smaller RN warships (alternatively,
two Sea Lynx could be squeezed aboard ships which could only accomodate one Sea King). With
its 13m rotor diameter, the Sea Lynx is very compact compared to the Sea King (which has a 19m
rotor). But, of course, small size also limits the crew, ASW equipment, and fuel that can be carried by the
Sea Lynx. The point is: they work as a team with the Sea Kings.
The Sea Lynx is not without a Canadian connection – Pratt & Whitney Canada’s PT6 turboshaft
engines were proposed as powerplants at several stages of Lynx development. Pure speculation but, had
DND shown an interest, might the best- selling Lynx be PT6-powered today? Would the CF have a diverse
fleet of ASW helicopters capable of operating from a range of vessel sizes? A moot point. Sea Lynx
would become near-standard for NATO navies, but DND wasn’t interested.
Big, Bigger, Biggest – or – “Plus ça change,
plus c’est la même chose.”
DND’s obsession with size was directly linked to their all-in-one concept – ie: the CF shipboard
helicopter had to be capable of performing every single imaginable role. This jack-of-all-trades, master-of-none
approach is precisely what the mixed fleet of Sea Kings and Sea Lynx in Royal Navy service
was designed to avoid.[1]
At the heart of the ever-upward size creep was the ASW role. Although the new NSA was to be a multi-purpose
helicopter, nothing was to compromise its ASW capabilities. And, there seemed to be no upper limit to the
volumes of ASW gear that DND planners could imagine shoe-horning into the New Shipboard Aircraft.
[1] An analogy might be commuting in a fuel-efficient hatchback and hauling with an old pick-up truck instead of
breaking the bank buying a one-size-fits-all SUV. The Suburban Assault Vehicle has lots of cup-holders
and it can carry the entire soccer team once a month. But what single job is the gas-hog actually
good at?
< Part 4 — the New Shipboard Aircraft
(NSA) Project
> Part 5 — Open for Business: Contenders
for the ‘NSA’ Requirement
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