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Future Helicopters

Kirkhill said:
Current fleet

CH-148 Cyclone - 25 active of 28 ordered (???) - All tasked to RCN Fleet
CH-149 Cormorant - 13 active of 16 ordered - All tasked to SAR Fleet

CH-147 Chinook - 14 - All tasked to 1 Wing for Army Support
CH-146 Griffon - 82 - Operating out of 11 Locations (Edmonton, Cold Lake, Borden, Trenton, Petawawa, St-Hubert, Valcartier, Bagotville, Gagetown, Goose Bay)

What if? (wrt the Griffons and Chinooks only)

Half of the Griffons were swapped out for the V-280s (41 frames as of 2031)
And the remainder of the Griffons were all turned over to the Air Reserve (Squadrons 400 and 438) and the Combat Support Squadrons?
Click to expand...
Weren’t some of the VH71’s to be converted to CH149?
 

Project summary​

The CH-149 Cormorant fleet has been providing reliable and crucial service to Canada since 2001 and requires upgrades to remain operationally effective. Through the contract with Leonardo U.K. Ltd., we will upgrade our current fleet to the most advanced version of the helicopter, and acquire additional airframes/parts to increase our fleet size from 13 to 16 aircraft. This will ensure that we can continue to perform search and rescue operations from Comox, B.C., Gander, N.L., Greenwood, N.S., and add to the search and rescue capacity from Trenton, Ont.

Cormorant Mid-Life Upgrade - Canada.ca

The CH-149 Cormorant fleet has been providing reliable and crucial service to Canada since 2001 and requires upgrades to remain operationally effective.
www.canada.ca www.canada.ca
 
Pushback from contractors and their political defenders.

www.defenseone.com

Army leaders clash with Connecticut lawmaker on future of Black Hawk helicopter

The service’s transformation plan is raising questions from Congress.
www.defenseone.com www.defenseone.com

The hearing came to a head when Rep. Rosa DeLauro, who represents the Connecticut district where Sikorsky manufactures the UH-60 Black Hawk, questioned the service leaders on the helo’s future.

The Army’s current Black Hawk contract, under which it began purchasing 24 helos annually beginning in 2022, ends next year. The service has indicated that its future aviation formations will include a mix of manned, unmanned and autonomous aircraft, reducing the need for today’s helicopters.

“The problem with an all-Black Hawk formation would be it cannot go far enough and fast enough to survive in some parts of the world, like INDOPACOM,” Driscoll said.

He said the Army is looking at the right mix of aircraft needed for future operations, and that includes a review of every platform, but that the Black Hawk will still be necessary to the Army for “the next sizable portion of time.”

Things started to unravel when DeLauro asked Driscoll how the Black Hawk figures into the Army’s transformation plans.

“Congresswoman, I appreciate that your constituency involves Black Hawk and the Americans who have made it,” he said. “Our constituency is the American soldier and the taxpayer whose dollar –”

DeLauro interrupted him, arguing that she was not advocating for a constituent issue, but for the Black Hawk as a vital part of national security.

George clarified that the Army is looking at taking the aging UH-60L and UH-60V models out of service, adding that he pictures doing some vertical-lift missions – like transporting weapons – with drones.
Click to expand...

breakingdefense.com

Army aviation shakeup continues with ITEP, FTUAS programs grinding to a halt - Breaking Defense

“We're ceasing investment and procurement into those two programs as part of the army transformation initiative so we can free up those resources and reinvest them,” an Army spokesperson told Breaking Defense today.
breakingdefense.com breakingdefense.com
 
I get the distinct impression that somewhere buried deep in all that billing if you dig hard enough. You'll find that somebody's teenagers probably got their orthodontist work billed to the US Army.
 
GK .Dundas said:
I get the distinct impression that somewhere buried deep in all that billing if you dig hard enough. You'll find that somebody's teenagers probably got their orthodontist work billed to the US Army.
Click to expand...
Unlikely these days.

The issue from my end on this is 1, the SOF specific issues where well known before the RFI, let alone RFP, and the SOR/SOW should have had the implementation of those items to be KPP’s.

Not doing that, well okay it is a Big Stupid Army program - but then I don’t understand now why it is up to the taxpayer to make every single aircraft a SOPMOD capable one.

It’s great for the SOF Aviation PM, as he doesn’t need to spend MFP-11 funds for the modifications, and the SOPMOD modules. CLIN’s for SOF specific birds just need to add the modules and so SOF aviation just needs to pay the delta between the standard (service common item) platform and the one with the SOPMODs
But when one looks at the % of SOF birds to the other Hawks, unless Big Army, Big Navy and other services intend to use those modules as well, the cost to have the entire fleet SOPMOD capable is going to be massive compared to not. So for the Taxpayer it makes more sense to have a significant ear mark to conduct the mods under MFP-11 for just the SOF aviation airframes.
 
KevinB said:
Unlikely these days.

The issue from my end on this is 1, the SOF specific issues where well known before the RFI, let alone RFP, and the SOR/SOW should have had the implementation of those items to be KPP’s.

Not doing that, well okay it is a Big Stupid Army program - but then I don’t understand now why it is up to the taxpayer to make every single aircraft a SOPMOD capable one.

It’s great for the SOF Aviation PM, as he doesn’t need to spend MFP-11 funds for the modifications, and the SOPMOD modules. CLIN’s for SOF specific birds just need to add the modules and so SOF aviation just needs to pay the delta between the standard (service common item) platform and the one with the SOPMODs
But when one looks at the % of SOF birds to the other Hawks, unless Big Army, Big Navy and other services intend to use those modules as well, the cost to have the entire fleet SOPMOD capable is going to be massive compared to not. So for the Taxpayer it makes more sense to have a significant ear mark to conduct the mods under MFP-11 for just the SOF aviation airframes.
Click to expand...
And where oh where is Mr Musk and that DOGE thing ?
 
Meanwhile Canadian problems with helicopters
www.facebook.com

10K views · 258 reactions | What happens when a polar bear decides to check out an RCAF CH-149 Cormorant? Find out this and more on The Pilot Project Podcast at http://podpilotproject.transistor.fm/ or wherever you get your podcasts! . . . . . #flyi

What happens when a polar bear decides to check out an RCAF CH-149 Cormorant? Find out this and more on The Pilot Project Podcast at http://podpilotproject.transistor.fm/ or wherever you get your...
www.facebook.com www.facebook.com
 
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