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In Detail ———— Offshore Patrol Vessels (OPVs) —— Have to Have Helicopters ? ————

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In Detail

Modest Proposal CCG/CF PV85

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Coastal Patrol, Offshore Patrol, and Maritime Defence  –  September 2004 Maritime Security:  Size, Landing Decks, and Hangars – Maritime Helicopter Issues for CF Offshore Patrol Vessels A glance at the Offshore Patrol Vessel comparison tables shows that most current OPV operators employ shipboard helicopters in the 5t range. Serving Canadian CH-124 Sea King maritime helicopters weigh almost 9t – their recently ordered successors, CH-148 Cyclones ,  weigh more than 10t as does the CF search-and-rescue CH-149 Cormorant. Clearly, none of these helicopters would be suited to any modestly-sized CF OPV. There is, however, one Canadian military helicopter in the 5t range  –  Land Forces' CH-146 Griffon.  Might these utility helicopters be adapted for the maritime role aboard OPVs?  Such adaptations have been made in other countries. A 'navalized' Griffon has advantages but this solution is unlikely to make Maritime Command happy. The idea was mooted during the lengthy MHP process.  Retired naval aviators quickly dismissed Griffons as "flimsy" – landlubbers with no place on naval vessels. But similar helicopters do serve with NATO navies.  Griffons may have been ill-suited to replace Sea Kings but an OPV's helicopter requirements differ significantly from those of a  Halifax-class frigate. The helicopter most commonly associated with OPVs is the 5t Westland Lynx. Such an aircraft has obvious advantages over a "navalized" Griffon.  The Lynx is more powerful and, although its rotor has a 2m larger diameter, the rotor blades fold for compact shipboard stowage. Although tempting to suggest, a CF Lynx purchase is extremely unlikely. It would be more useful to examine more realistic helicopter options. One possibility is the Agusta A109E – which entered US Coast Guard service as the MH-68 Mako. Strictly speaking, the MH-68 is not a shipboard chopper. But there would be advantages having commonality with the US Coast Guard. There is also an element of 'Can-Con', this latest model of the Italian-made A109 switched to Canadian PW206 engines. Rationalizing a new helicopter buy would be simpler if this purchase were combined with a replacement for the Canadian Coast Guard's fleet of aging BO 105 helicopters. The A109 is larger [1] but would still make a suitable BO 105 replacement.  Although both helicopters can be based on cutters,  neither has folding main rotor blades. Whether a lack of folding blades is a problem or not very much depends upon the style of OPV chosen by DND.[2] If helicopters are to be permanently based onboard – and this is often not the case with other navies  –  a hangar is required for maintenance and storage. The downside to a hangar is the space that it takes up. On smaller OPVs, that space could be dedicated to larger landing decks – useful if a larger helicopter needed to land-on, allowing OPVs to accomodate Sea Kings, Cyclones, and even over-extended SAR Cormorants in need of re-fuelling at sea. [1]  The A109 main rotor is 11m in diameter, the BO 105's is 10m. For comparison, the rotor diameter of the Sea Lynx is 13m, the Griffon 14m, and the Sea King 19m. [2]  The size of CF OPV(s) is also at issue. While a helicopter can be permanently assigned to smaller OPVs, a 5t aircraft (and its hangar) can make up a substantial percentage of their full load weight. A frigate-sized OPV probably does warrant a hangar, but smaller OPVs do not –  rather than taking up space with hangars, the smaller vessels would be more flexible with just tie-down points and larger decks. Also see:  'Sea Griffon'  –  Any Case for a Navalized CH-146 onboard OPVs?