The Aurora Incremental Modernization Project (AIMP), which began
in 1998, was to transform these aircraft into "multi-mission
platforms" capable of over-land surveillance as well. The AIMP intended,
at least in part, to capitalize on previous and substantial investments in Aurora modernization, the revised plan would keep 10 Auroras “safe and
operationally viable until 2020.”
AIMP is divided into three
'blocks". Block I is complete and concentrated on the replacement of
unsupportable systems. Block II brought a glass cockpit with the Navigation and
Flight Instruments (NFI) component provided by CMC Electronics, and a complete
replacement of the communications suite. Block III is a wholesale replacement
of the aircraft's sensors and mission computer.
The Aurora Structural Life Extension
Project (ASLEP) provides for new wings and the replacement of key structural
components. The complete ASLEP solution replaces the aircrafts' outer wings,
center wing lower section and horizontal stabilizers with new production
components. All fatigue-life limiting structures on the aircraft are replaced
with enhanced-design components and improved corrosion-resistant materials that
will greatly reduce maintenance costs over the aircraft's service life. This
program is expected to extend the CP140s' service life by 15,000 flight hours
per airframe.
Increasingly the CP-140 is
employed for domestic and international surveillance by CANCOM for security,
counter-terrorism and smuggling, as well as to monitor foreign fishing fleets
off Canada's
coasts. CP-140s have also been deployed on operations such as Operation
Assistance and Operation Apollo.
Deployments have included OP
SHARPGUARD (Yugoslavia
blockade), OP SIRIUS (Mediterranean Patrols), OP APOLLO (Persian Gulf region),
and counter-narcotics patrols in the Gulf of Mexico
and Pacific. Patrols of the Canadian Arctic have also continued
In December 2007 the government first announced that they would
pursue the acquisition of a new surveillance aircraft while continuing to
upgrade and life-extend the CP-140 Aurora fleet. In 2008 it was decided that 10 of the aircraft would receive the full modification.
It was recently announced that the DND will update
another 4 of the Aurora
long range maritime patrol aircraft. The four-engine planes will now be in use
until 2030, extending their life cycle to more than 50 years.
It did not take long for critics to weigh in and announce
that it signaled another failure for the government’s procurement system.
It has been pointed out that the decision to
modernize and life-extend 14 of the Auroras is by no means perfect – compromises
rarely are – but it will permit the retention of critical maritime surveillance
(i.e., marine domain awareness) and other capabilities until such time as a
credible successor can be secured.
The decision to add to the
number of updated aircraft acknowledges the flexibility of fixed-wing maritime
patrol/ISR (intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance) aircraft for
military, quasi-military, and non-military roles. It also acknowledges the
importance of potential overseas requirements for a credible Canadian maritime
and overland ISR capability.
The option of not having this
capability would not be without cost. It is instructive to watch the search in
the deep reaches of the Indian Ocean for Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 being
conducted by the Royal Australian Air Force and its allies. When the United Kingdom
felt it had to forgo its Nimrod
program because of fiscal mismanagement they lost any long range maritime
surveillance capabilities. It is interesting to consider that if an aircraft
went missing a thousand miles off the coast of Britain, the RAF would not be able
to take part in the search.
In that context, the prospect
of having only 10 fully modernized and life-extended Auroras split between two bases thousands of
miles apart would have made maintaining extended surveillance of a target of
interest 1000 miles from shore a virtually impossible challenge.
It is also true that having
14 airframes available for use is a bare minimum. With the small fleet now envisioned, the aircraft will experience increased use and in turn
a decreased life span in an attempt to fulfill the same tasks, which as far as
we know have not been changed, with fewer resources. Canada has the longest coastline in the world and with few other resources available to accomplish these tasks it may be that more aircraft will be necessary.
There is a case to be made that at least two more airframes could be given a limited update to allow their use as training and arctic surveillance aircraft. Two of the CP-140A Arcturus variants, originally procured for just this purpose, are currently parked in the Arizona desert under the watchful eye of the 309 AMARG. With an estimated with 10,300 flying hours and 23,000 landings on each airframe one can not help but wonder if the SLEP portion of the upgrade would not benefit those aircraft and produce an economic and useful adjunct to the Aurora fleet.
As Bill Sweetman has pointed out, aircraft are expensive to
design and build and have a cradle-to-grave product life that is far beyond
either political or technological horizons. Long life requires adaptability,
both across missions and through-life.
The CP-140 Aurora may end up spending fifty years in Canadian
service. As long as the platform is sound and the sensors and communications
kept up to date, there is nothing intrinsically wrong with this. A search for a
replacement should be a search for a better way of accomplishing the mission.
For the time being it appears that the best replacement for an Aurora
is another Aurora.
CP-140 AURORA
Lockheed CP-140 Aurora
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_CP-140_Aurora#CP-140A_Arcturus
DND/Canadian Forces News Release
DND/Canadian Forces News Release
CASR: CP-140 Replacement
$35M military plane upgrades
highlight Canada's
procurement delays
Aurora Renaissance by Martin
Shadwick
IN FOCUS: UK left exposed by Nimrod
cancellation, report says
Lockheed CP-140A ARCTURUS
CP140A 140120 and 140121
CANADIAN AF
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