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...rough field performance
I do wonder whether the C-27J Spartan has signifanctly better rough-field performance than the now-chosen Airbus C295.December 6, 2016 6:49 PM ET
The Liberal government will announce the winner of a multi-billion dollar program for new search and rescue aircraft on Thursday,
even as industry sources say aerospace giant Airbus has won the deal.
The announcement was planned for Winnipeg on Thursday but at the last minute was changed to the Canadian Forces base at Trenton, Ont., sources say.
The Airbus C-295 was selected over the C-27J built by the Italian firm, Leonardo.
Sources say the aircraft from both competitors were compliant in the bidding process but that Airbus edged out Leonardo on price.
Both firms had also promised a full package of industrial benefits for Canadian firms.
The RCAF expects all of the new search and rescue aircraft to be delivered by 2023.
The project originally envisioned acquiring 17 planes.
But that has now changed and will be capability based, say government officials.
The aerospace firms submitted in their bids the numbers of aircraft they believe are needed for Canada to handle the needed search and rescue capability.
The new search and rescue planes will replace the RCAF’s 40-year-old Buffalo aircraft and older model C-130s currently assigned to search-and-rescue duties.
The Buffalos, first purchased in 1967, are key to search and rescue on the West Coast and in parts of the Rockies.
Those aircraft are already facing mechanical and technical problems and, several years ago, the air force had difficulty obtaining spare propellers.
The Buffalo really was a star in this respect...
For some the Airbus choice is a surprise, really....