The Maritime
Helicopter Project (MHP) was commissioned by the
Chrétien government in the year 2000 to provide
twenty-eight replacements for the CH124 Sea King
maritime helicopters used by the Canadian Navy.
The project came seven years after the same
government had cancelled a similar project of
the Mulroney government, and paid a hefty
cancellation fee of several hundred millions of
dollars, that would have replaced the Sea King
well before massive media attention (with
respect to maintenance and safety problems)
dogged the fleet heading into the new century.
The Mulroney
government project was known as the New
Shipboard Aircraft (NSA) project and was to have
initial delivery of the Sea King replacements,
to be the EH101 Merlin, by 2003. The delivery,
slated to be the first worldwide delivery of
this then-new aircraft, would have brought major
industrial benefits to Canada in addition to
providing upwards of fifth helicopters to
replace both the Sea King fleet and the aging
CH113 Labrador search and rescue helicopter
fleet. The new helicopter fleet, split into the
maritime variant and search and rescue variant,
would be known by the names CH148 Petrel and
CH149 Chimo, respectively. By the latter days of
the Mulroney era, the costs of the project had
ballooned to over four billion dollars (1993
CA$) and was promptly cancelled by the incoming
Chrétien government, which referred to the
helicopters as being “Cadillac” compared to what
the military needed.
In 1998, the
Chrétien government would face political
embarrassment as both helicopter fleets began to
degrade in service quality, with maintenance
hours required per hour of flight reaching
upwards of 30 for the Sea Kings alone. There
would be no replacement for the Sea Kings in
1998; instead, there would be a project to
purchase fifteen replacement helicopters for the
Labrador fleet. The chosen helicopter, competing
against a more modern version of the Labrador
airframe, was none other than the EH101 Merlin.
The name of the helicopter was changed to EH101
Cormorant for the Canadian search and rescue
variant to minimize political fallout.
The 2000
announcement of the Maritime Helicopter Project
brought with it a sigh of relief that the
government that had cancelled much needed
replacements in the early 1990s had finally come
to the realization that the Sea Kings needed to
be replaced. The political fallout of the
Cormorant contract weighed heavily on the minds
of the Chrétien government ministers and, as
alleged by EH Industries, the makers of the
Merlin/Cormorant, and Canadian media alike, the
government did its best to prevent Team
Cormorant from winning the MHP contract. One
tactic which made the process of replacing the
desperate Sea King fleet that much longer was
the splitting of the contract into two separate
contracts: one for the airframe, and one for the
electronic suite.
In 2002, John
McCallum, considered by many involved in the
Canadian military field to be the first Minister
of National Defence in the post-WW2 era who
showed genuine concern for the military’s
well-being as well as financial wisdom which
helped correct many problems in the Department,
replaced Allan Rock in that role. He quickly
reverted the MHP contract back to one single
agreement in order to streamline the process and
permit the delivery of the new helicopters to
begin by 2008; the decision to split the
contract delayed the original 2005 delivery date
for the first helicopter.
The competition for
the $5 billion contract to replace the Sea Kings
with twenty-eight new helicopters was a very
intense process. Three competitors initially
announced bids – EH Industries’ Team Cormorant;
the Sikorsky H92 Superhawk, and; the NH
Industries’ NH-90. To those involved in the
field, Team Cormorant seemed like the obvious
choice to win the contract given that the
Superhawk was still on the drawing board and the
NH-90, while teaming up with Lockheed Martin for
its electronic outfitting in this contract,
brought little benefits to Canadian industry.
The NH-90 team eventually withdrew from the
competition, leaving the remaining two vying for
the contract.
In the end, the
Superhawk was announced as the replacement for
the Sea King via the Maritime Helicopter Project
on 23 November 2004. The cost of the
twenty-eight H92 Superhawk helicopters, to
become known as the CH148 Cyclone, was CA$1.8
billion, with a $3.2 billion 20-year servicing
agreement. The inclusion of penalty fees means
that Sikorsky is expected to deliver the first
helicopter by 30 November 2008. The Superhawk is
considered by several in the Air Force community
to be the best platform for the maritime
helicopter task. One major drawback of the
Cormorant is its bulky size, which does not
coexist well with the small decks of Canadian
warships – major structural refit to the hangar
of the Canadian Patrol Frigates would have been
required if the Cormorant was selected.
The loss of the
most expensive Canadian military contract of the
Chrétien era did not sit well with Team
Cormorant. Heading into 2006, the consortium is
currently undertaking court action against the
Government of Canada to the tune of $5 billion
in damages, citing that the Cormorant was the
best platform for the project compared to the
Superhawk. Team Cormorant alleges that political
interference from the Chrétien government over
the history of the aircraft in recent Canadian
military history was the primary reason why the
contract was lost.
Regardless of the
outcome of this court case, the MHP is safe and
will produce twenty-eight CH148 Cyclones
starting in late 2008 for use by the Canadian
Navy. The Superhawk is a very new design and
Canada will be the first nation to fly the
helicopter in a military role (there is a S92
civilian variant of the helicopter that has been
in service for several years). This concerns
some in the Canadian military community, though
recent chronic, and seemingly unsolvable,
problems with cracking in the rotors of the
Cormorant fleet have caused some doubts about
whether or not the Cormorant would have been the
best decision for the military. That rotor
cracking has effectively grounded the Cormorant
search and rescue fleet from operations for most
of 2005, and continues into 2006, except for
emergency search and rescue flights.
The CH148
Cyclone (H92 Superhawk)
CH148 Cyclone with
Canadian Forces Paint Scheme
Photo by Canadian Forces Joint Imaging Centre (CFJIC)
The H92 Superhawk
is the militarized version of the S-92 medium
helicopter used by the civilian world and is
designed to be the successor of the popular H60
Blackhawk family of helicopters. It is currently
being touted as a possible replacement to the
146 United States Air Force Pavehawks which
perform recovery operations of downed-pilots,
among other tasks.
The Canadian CH148
Cyclone variant of the Superhawk will have its
system integration and Mission Data Management
System outfitted by General Dynamics Canada
(formerly GM Defence Canada). Telephonics will
supply the maritime surveillance radar, the
APS-143B(V) multi-mode radar with integrated
Mark XIIA Identification Friend of Foe.
Quick Facts
-
can
be scrambled in less than two minutes
-
six-foot wide aft ramp permits quick load and
offload of troops and equipment
-
can
hover up to 3,261 metres
-
can
carry up to 22 combat-outfitted marines
Whether or not the
Cyclone will be used in the role of troop
transport beyond regular-sized boarding parties,
such as those seen in the boarding of the GTS
Katie to recover illegally held Canadian
military equipment from corporate hands, has not
yet been announced. There are currently plans by
the Canadian Forces to convert 5 Sea King model
B helicopters to tactical troop transport for
the new rapid reaction force entering into
service this year.
Specifications
These
specifications are listed for the H92 Superhawk.
To date, the Department of National Defence and
Canadian Forces have yet to release the official
specifications of the CH148 Cyclone variant.
source: Air Force
Technology.com
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Dimensions
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Length with
rotors turning
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20.88m
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Fuselage
length
|
17.12m
|
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Fuselage
width including sponsons
|
3.89m
|
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Height with
rotors turning
|
5.46m
|
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Height to
top of rotor head
|
4.70m
|
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Rotor
diameter
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17.71m
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Tail rotor
diameter
|
3.35m
|
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Cabin
Dimensions
|
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Cabin
length
|
6.10m
|
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Cabin width
|
2.01m
|
|
Cabin
volume
|
16.9m³
|
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Weights
|
|
Empty
weight (SAR configuration)
|
7,257kg
|
|
Empty
weight
|
6,895kg
|
|
Internal
fuel
|
2,143kg
|
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Engines
|
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Type
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GE CT7-8C
|
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Rating
|
3,000shp
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