Carry troops where?

David Akin at CTV is reporting that the Sea Kings being converted to troop carriers might be put into service in Afghanistan. (He was gracious enough to tip his hat to The Torch for inspiration, too. Nice to know somebody's reading.)

Military sources tell CTV News the Sea Kings could be used in Afghanistan, but most will likely end up providing ship-to-shore troop transport from naval ships.

Could is an awfully big word in this case. They could also be used to ferry troops about in Haiti, or the Balkans, or Sudan if we choose to go there. In my opinion, the chances of these particular refits flying troops anywhere but from ship to shore around Halifax and Esquimalt are minimal.

Why? Because for the most part, folks at NDHQ aren't quite as dopey as I normally pretend they are. That is to say, they can read:

A shortfall in the number of troop transport helicopters has led to defence chiefs proposing to bring former Royal Navy anti-submarine Sea Kings out of storage for use in Iraq and Afghanistan.
...
"Compounding the catastrophe is that its maximum speed at its maximum height is a mere 50 knots - in other words they will be sitting ducks." He added that the "hot and high" performance of the Sea King was "woeful".

While the Sea Kings are generally regarded as robust by troops, their age and poor hot weather performance have led to several being grounded in Iraq.

Not even the normally over-imaginative folks at SFU's CASR thought of Sea Slugs for our Afghanistan lift needs. They assert that Gen Hillier nixed the idea a year ago before it even got rolling, a claim The Ottawa Citizen echoes.

In fact, I think Hiller laid out his position pretty clearly in July 2005:

"We have no intention at this point in time to deploy the Sea Kings," said Gen. Rick Hillier.

"If it could do the job there, in that hot climate at very high altitude, and be able to lift enough of a load, would I deploy it there? Absolutely. But I do not believe it can do the job there."

Since the 'hot and high' performance characteristics of the Sea King haven't changed over the course of the past eleven months, I think it's a safe bet that Canadian Sea Kings won't be flying in central Asia anytime soon, no matter how their interior is configured.

The aircraft you see below is what the CF needs, and from all accounts, Hillier knows it. Time to get the procurement rolling, folks. Long past time, in fact.