ZBBYLW From Canada, joined Nov 2006, 1927 posts, RR: 7 Reply 2, posted (5 years 7 months 3 weeks 5 days 12 hours ago) and read 2548 times:
Hey Cal, hows it going?
Anyhow I do not know how I feel about this. On one hand I am thrilled that we are stepping up the patrols over our Arctic. On the other hand I would also like to have a base near by where we have a hand full of CF-188s based. I know they use they use the CP-140 to do the patrolling, but know if we have the Predator (or what ever other UAV may be decided upon) the CF-188s could be used more of a response aircraft. Instead of having crew up their permanently, they could go on two week rotations, similar to how YQQ was staffed for a while. The benefit of this is we could cool of Russia, as they are playing around up there quite a bit these days.
HanginOut From Austria, joined May 2005, 545 posts, RR: 0 Reply 3, posted (5 years 7 months 3 weeks 5 days 11 hours ago) and read 2533 times:
I would hope that the two leading candidates for the UAV mission are the Reaper (the latest version of the Predator) and the Global Hawk (although, I'm worried that this one may be out of our price range - but its loitering time would be incredible!).
The Reaper would probably be my choice as it has the ability to shoot at things, whereas the Global Hawk can carry a lot more sensors. Although, if we have the time, we may want to wait and see what the USN does with its BAMS project and just buy the same UAV they pick (and hopefully get a better deal on them by buying in bulk with the USN).
Oroka From Canada, joined Dec 2006, 791 posts, RR: 0 Reply 4, posted (5 years 7 months 3 weeks 5 days 4 hours ago) and read 2494 times:
Does the Reaper have a air-to-air capacity? As much as I like the idea of the Reaper, I dont think it is what we need. We just need to see what is going on in the area, not armed patrols. If there was a need to project some force in the area, it wouldnt take long to have some CF-188s in the area from Cold Lake.
MissedApproach From Canada, joined Oct 2004, 713 posts, RR: 2 Reply 6, posted (5 years 6 months 3 weeks 3 days 8 hours ago) and read 2208 times:
From the CanWest News Service:
The Canadian military is recommending that a $1-billion modernization program for the country's fleet of Aurora surveillance aircraft be scrapped and the air force ease back on how it uses the planes so they can be kept flying until a replacement is delivered. The military argues it doesn't make sense to pump more money into the 25-year-old Auroras, noting that by the time the modernized planes are ready, even more advanced technology will be available. There are also concerns about the extent of the structural problems now facing the Auroras.
The military's recommendation is to keep the Auroras flying until 2016 without upgrades while proceeding with the purchase of Poseidon surveillance aircraft, the U.S. navy's successor to its version of the Aurora. Several years ago, Canada was invited by the U.S. to take part in the Poseidon program, but declined.
That doesn't rule out a UAV fleet, but at the rate the current UAV's are crashing, I hope it is only as a supplement to a real patrol plane.
MissedApproach From Canada, joined Oct 2004, 713 posts, RR: 2 Reply 8, posted (5 years 6 months 3 weeks 2 days 10 hours ago) and read 2110 times:
Quoting Blackbird (Reply 7): Aurora? You're not talking about that hypothetical hypersonic waverider are you?
Nope, Aurora is the name of the Canadian version of the P-3. When purchased, instead of carrying the normal P-3 ASW electronics, our aircraft were equipped with the same suite the S-3 Viking carried.
We also have two new-build P-3 airframes that were bought in 1991. Those planes don't carry any ASW equipment, though I believe they have a thermal camera & surface search radar.
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