Canada to beef up Cormorant fleet

After a lengthy negotiation process, the Canadian government has signed a contract for the upgrade of the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) CH-149 Cormorant fleet. CH-149 Cormorant is the Canadian designation for the Leonardo (formerly EHI) AW101 helicopter, which is in use for Search and Rescue (SAR) missions in Canada.

The contract, worth CAD 1,24 billion (USD 910 million), calls for the upgrade of the helicopters to the latest standard and the purchase of three additional helicopters. The process, that had already started in May 2018, has finally led to this contract.

The Cormorant fleet, a critical SAR-asset for the RCAF, has been plagued for years with availability issues. In the mid-2000s the RCAF had to concentrate the Cormorants at only a few air bases. On the East Coast, 103 Squadron at Gander (NFl) and 413 Squadron at Greenwood (N.S.), and on the West Coast, 442 squadron at Comox (B.C.) enabling the range of the Cormorant to be effectively used over vast areas of water. This left 424 squadron at Trenton (Ont.) with Bell CH-146 Griffon (Bell 412) helicopters to perform SAR-duties. Of the fifteen Cormorants delivered, two were lost in accidents.

The upgrade will bring the current fleet, which has been delivered between 2001 and 2003, to the same standard as the Norwegian AW101 Mk612 SAR Queen. The government announced, that with the delivery of three additional helicopters, which brings the total to sixteen Cormorants, 424 squadron at Trenton will be equipped with Cormorants again.

Two contracts have been concluded, one with Leonardo (Yeovil, UK) for the upgrade and delivery of additional helicopters, and another one with CAE (Montreal, Que.) for training simulators. The contracts will allow the Cormorants to be flown well into the 2040s.

Photo by Rob Sowald