GATINEAU, QUÉBEC – Taking advantage of the gathering of the Canadian aerospace industry in Ottawa on November the 15^th and the 16^th at the occasion of the annual Canadian Aerospace Summit organized by the Aerospace Industries Association of Canada (AIAC), Team Spartan invited the media to the Gatineau-Ottawa Executive Airport (CYND) to come closer to a brand new Leonardo (formerly known as Alenia and Finmeccanica) C-27J at the end of the Summit on the 16^th between 3pm and 5pm.

Leonardo C-27J Spartan.
Photo: Philippe Cauchi.

Last year, on December, the 11th, Team Spartan Canada brought for a three hour stop and a press conference, a Peruvian Air Force C-27J Spartan to the Gatineau-Ottawa Executive Airport on its way to Peru.

All this is made in the context of the Royal Canadian Air Force Fixed Wing Search and Rescue (FWSAR-ARSVF) competition aiming to replace six aging De Havilland CC-115 Buffalo based in Comox, British Columbia and fourteen Lockheed CC-130H Hercules based in Winnipeg, Manitoba (4), Trenton, Ontario (4) and Greenwood, Nova Scotia (3). This process which began more than ten years ago aims to replace these two fleets of aircraft in service for more than 50 years.

The deadline to submit bids to Publics Works and Government Services Canada (PWGSC) to supply the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) with new fixed-wing search and rescue aircraft was January, the 11^th, 2016.  Three manufacturers have submitted bids:

Leonardo with the Italian-built twin turboprop C-27J

Airbus with the Spanish-built twin turboprop C295W

Embraer with the Brazilian-built twin turbojet KC-390.

The cost of the FWSAR program is set at 3,1 billion Canadian dollars including a 20-year maintenance contract.

The winner will be announced by the Government of Canada before the end of this year or at the beginning of next year.

The displayed aircraft on a demonstration flight en-route to South America featured FWSAR platform upgrades which include winglets improving the aerodynamics of the aircraft.

Team Spartan Press Conference.
Photo: Leonardo.

Members of Team Spartan at this event, Steve Lucas, former RCAF Chief of Staff and spokesperson of Team Spartan and Alessandro Scaburri, Leonardo C-27J demo pilot were there available to discuss the capabilities of this aircraft and the economic benefits to Canadian industrial partners that make up the team and to answer to journalists questions.

The Italian Ambassador to Canada, Gian Lorenzo Cornado attended the event.

According to Steve Lucas, ‘Team Spartan’s C-27J not only meets all of Canada’s search and rescue requirements, but in many cases also exceeds our country’s needs with its rapid response time, excellent endurance and superb maneuverability that make it ideal for Canada’s remote, austere and mountainous regions. We have a Canadian team that will bring economic opportunities to all regions in Canada, while also fitting within the existing budget’.

The ability to quickly locate and accurately deliver well equipped first responders to those in need is often the difference between life and death in the context of the vast reaches of Canada SAR area of responsibility were speed is critical to save lives.

‘That is why Team Spartan’s fully missionized C-27J, being the fastest aircraft in its category (325 Kts vs. 260 Kts of its direct competitor), is the preferred solution for the FWSAR requirement’ according to Mr. Lucas. He added that ‘Over longer missions the significant speed difference assists the C-27J to arrive and respond up to hours before its competitor. For those in the most critical of situations that time difference is vital’.

Leonardo C-27J Spartan.
Photo: Leonardo.

According to the Italian aircraft manufacturer, the C-27J Spartan has the capability to replace two very different FWSAR platforms, the CC-115 Buffalo and the CC-130H Hercules, which are currently in service today and reaching the end of their service life. The C-27J offers the lower speed/high maneuverability and the rugged characteristics of the CC-115 Buffalo and the speed and long range/endurance of the CC-130H Hercules.

According to Leonardo, if a rescue mission is called out at the 51°N 30°W, in the middle of the Atlantic and at the extreme of the Canada’s SAR zone, the twin-engine turboprop C-27J can perform the same mission as the four-engine tactical turboprop tactical military transport aircraft Lockheed Martin CC-130H Hercules with comparable radius of action and total mission time up to ten hours but at significantly lower acquisition and operational costs.

Steve Lucas wrapped up his presentation underlying that ‘With a fully missionized C-27J as Canada’s new FWSAR aircraft there will be no gaps in Canada’s SAR capability and no reduction in capacity at the extreme of the SAR area, mid-Atlantic and Far-North. A mission impossible for other twin engine prop aircraft’.

Leonardo C-27J Spartan.
Photo: Leonardo.

In its proposal, Team Spartan’s FWSAR solution comes with a commitment to deliver 100% of contract value industrial offsets and benefits in the form of hundreds of long-term jobs and far-reaching investments in Canadian firms and technology.

Team Spartan is comprised of Leonardo that will serve as the prime contractor and will provide the green aircraft platform, including engineering support and avionics, General Dynamics Mission Systems–Canada, will act as the team’s mission system integrator, responsible for modifying the aircraft and integrating high tech sensors and the computers that manage them and will serve as the in-service support (ISS) integrator for the C-27J; DRS Technologies Canada, IMP Aerospace & Defence; KF Aerospace; Esterline CMC Electronics; Rolls Royce Canada; Standard Aero; Bluedrop Training & Simulation; L3 WESCAM; TRU Simulation + Training; ATCO Structures and Logistics and FLYHT Aerospace Solutions Ltd.

The FWSAR C-27J will be modified, missionized, and supported in Nova Scotia at IMP Aerospace.

In date of last June, more than 82 C-27J had been delivered to the military forces of Italy, Greece, Bulgaria, Lithuania, Romania, Morocco, Mexico, Australia, Chad, Peru, Slovak Republic, an undisclosed African customer as well as the US Army Special Operations Command and the US Coast Guard.

Leonardo C-27J Spartan.
Photo: Leonardo.

GATINEAU – On Friday, December, the 11th, Team Spartan Canada brought for a three hours stop and a press conference, a Peruvian Air Force C-27J Spartan to the Gatineau-Ottawa Executive Airport on its way to Peru.

This event took place exactly one month before the deadline to submit bids to Publics Works and Governement Services Canada to supply the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) with new fixed-wing search and rescue (FWSAR) aircraft. The cost of the program is set at CAN$3,1 billions including a 20-year maintenance contract.

Turin Italy based Alenia Aermacchi, a division of Finmeccanica is leading Tean Spartan which includes :

General Dynamics Mission Systems Canada : supplier, integrator and in-service support (ISS) of the state of the art mission system based on the one found on the RCAF CP-140 Block III aircraft ;

IMP Aerospace : aircraft Canadianization by modifying the C-27J baseline aircraft into the Canadian

FWSAR, support to Alenia during initial delivery, installation of the mission systems, flare launchers,

EO/IR turret, search radar and interior design modifications ;

L3 Wescam : MX-15HDI electro-optical/infrared turret ;

DRS Technologies Canada, a Finmeccanica company : courseware and training aid ;

Esterline CMC : CMA-9000 Flight Management System and Flight Bag

FLYHT Aerospace Solutions : AFIRS 228S SATCOM Iridium satellite communications ;

KF Aerospace : maintenance, supply chain and repair engineering ISS, and pilot and maintenance training management support ;

Rockwell Collins : ATC radios ;

Finmeccanica Selex-EX : Seaspray 7500E search radar ;

Aerodyne : wide observer windows and pressurized flare launchers

Steve Lucas.
Photo: Philippe Cauchi.

Steve Lucas senior representative for team Spartan and former chief of the Air Staff of the now Royal Canadian Air Force from 2005 to 2007 was flanked by the two C-27J test pilots, Marco Venanzetti and Gianni Ammoniaci who left Turin on thursday afternoon on their way to Peru and the Peru Defence Attaché in Ottawa, Colonel Alejandro Humberto Marusic Caceda, attended.

Mr. Lucas started the press conference by stating that the C-27J, the aircraft of Team Spartan in the Canada’s Fixed Wing Search and Rescue (FWSAR) RFP whose bids are due for January, the 11th, 2016 , is ‘An exceptional aircraft beyond expectations but still within reach of Canada’.

Alenia C-27J Spartan.
Photo: Philippe Cauchi.

In spite of the fact that the C-27J offered to Canada is based on the same configuration that has been supplied to the US Coast Guard, the US Army Special Operations Forces and the Royal Australian Air Force, it will be modified by the Canadian industry in order to ‘make this aircraft right to fulfill the Canadian FWSAR mission’.

The FWSAR will be replacing the six aging De HavilLand CC-115 Buffalo based in Comox, British Columbia and fourteen Lockheed CC-130H Hercules based in Winnipeg, Manitoba (4), Trenton, Ontario (4) and Greenwood, Nova Scotia (3). This process which began more than ten years ago aims to replace theses two fleets of aircraft in service for more than 50 years.

According to Steve Lucas, the C-27J has a rapid response time thanks to its exceptional speed, size, endurance and manoeuvrability enabling it to reach austere and remote locations including theses in the mountains as well as in the far North and the far sea. This way, the C-27J is only aircraft in its class far enough capable to respond by its speed to SAR incidents to the limits of Canada vast SAR area of resposability.

The Canadian RFP underlined Steve Lucas is not a simple replacement on a one-to-one replacement basis of existing aircraft but a very complex set of requirements of thousands of pages requesting that the contender’s aircraft be able :

To respond to three simultaneous SAR incidents in Canada’s three different SAR regions : Victoria SSR, Trenton SSR and Halifax SSR ;

To reach the most remote Canadian location in the shortest time ;

To achieve a 95% availability rate for at least one aircraft in each SSR and a 70% rate for a second one ;

To reach 2674 points in Canada where incidents occured in the last five years.

The size of the cabin of the Spartan is a big plus acording to Mr. Lucas. With a heigth of 2,60 meters, a width of 3,33 meters, and its high floor strength, (4,900kg/mload capability), the cabin allows a lot of activity of moving around in the back, the SAR technicians bringing a lot of equipment.

It is divided in three sections : the mission system section, the storage section and on the ramp, the personnel section.

Photo: Philippe Cauchi.

The C-27J Spartan is not only an aircraft capable to bring the first respondents to site but also to land on short strips and bring back everyone.

Compared to the Buffalo, the C-27J flies faster, further and is pressurized. For this reason, the Buffalo can be used only in the Victoria Region. On top of that, the Spartan have the landing and take off performances of the Buffalo in spite of the weigth of its complete mission system and longer endurance.

Team Spartan C-27J is based on the same configuration of the aircraft supplied to the US Coast Guard which is looking for systems similar to the one installed on the one offered to Canadian Forces. This means opportunities for Canadian suppliers if Canada picks the Spartan.

Steve Lucas recalled that the C-27J is a modern military transport aircraft with an established production line, mature production processes and excellent operational performances.

He concluded by stating that the Spartan is an affordable solution to Canada SAR needs ‘very within reach of Canada with no need to compromise on response time, geographical coverage, crew comfort and cockpit visibility’ and ‘Maximizing Canadian participation and minimizing program risks’.

An advanced derivative of the Aeritalia G222 first flown in 1970, the C-27J is a tactical military cargo aircraft able to perform a variety of missions including transport of troops, logistical resuply, MEDEVAC, air drop operations, paratroopers launches, humanitarian assistance, oil spill relief, fire fighting and SAR.

The C-27J featured the same engines and propellers than the Lockheed Martin C-130J Hercules as well as a common avionics architecture.

Having obtained its Military Qualification Certificate, the C-27J is also airworthy to civil standards with certification from EASA and FAA.

Certification of the C-27J Spartan included cold weather flight testing in Finland.

More than 82 C-27J had beeen ordered by the air forces of Italy, Greece, Bulgaria, Lithuania, Romania, Morocco, Mexico, Australia, Chad, Peru, Slovak Republic, an undisclosed African customer as well as the US Army Special Operations Command and the US Coast Guard.

Alenia C-27J Spartan.
Photo: Alenia.