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A Modest Proposal
— An Interim Solution for Canadian Arctic Patrol |
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Several times a year, individual CP-140 Auroras from the
two CF Maritime Patrol squadrons deploy to the Arctic for 'NORPATs' or northern patrol flights. This
makes good use of a CP-140's 12- hour endurance, but with a cruising speed of 350 kts or 648km/h, NORPATs are a
grind for the crews. With the decision to phase- out the
Aurora, the question arises: who will fly NORPATs? Air Force generals apparently favour the Bombardier Sentinel which is optimized for land
surveillance. This system will likely need re- calibrating for sovereignty patrols which will be
time-consuming.
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An interim solution is required. And the frequency of Arctic patrols should be increased. In the
past, DND toyed with a CC-144 Challenger patrol
variant.[1] The Challenger 604 MMAs of the Danish Flyvevåbnet fly such missions from and around
Greenland. This seems an ideal candidate for interim arctic patrol: The needed systems are already integrated.
MMA is based on an in-service aircraft. And used 604s are readily available.
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An Interim Fix on An Estabished Model
CF CC-144 Challengers are used as VIP or utility transports. The CC-144 proved less than ideal for maritime
patrol. What would a 'CP-144' bring to arctic patrols? For their class, Challengers have "long
legs", but its range is less than that of a CP-140. The Challenger's advantage is better
servicability, faster transit speed, and much smaller crew complement. To that can be added an established parts
supply chain/maintenance system (both civilian and CC-144 ) along with proven performance.
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There is also a ready supply of used airframes available that could be rebuilt as MMAs. Since Bombardier introduced
its Challenger 605, used 604 models are being received as trade-ins. Why choose used Challengers?
Low-level flying is very hard on airframes and arctic patrol Challengers may have to operate from rough,
gravel airstrips at times (as the Danes do). Expecting hard use, it is better to regard these aircraft as temporary,
replacable, sensor platforms. Once any Arctic 'CP-144' was worn out, its systems would be tranferred to a
new Challenger platform. If and when the CF receives replacements for its long-in-the-tooth CP-140 fleet,
the new aircraft could take up the challenge, as it were.
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[1] The CP-144s were to be converted CC-144As. At least three Challengers (144604, 144605, and 144610) were
ear-marked for conversion) but the program was cancelled in the mid-'90s. Standard CC-144s flew in the maritime
patrol role with 434 Sqn (Greenwood, NS) in the '90s. These aircraft had neither search radar nor IR
sensors. More seriously, they suffered from corrosion problems in the sea air environment.
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