More on the fixed-wing SAR aircraft saga (and on UAVs)

You just can't shuffle off those Buffaloes (another recent post here). Would be nice to get some really capable UAVs too.

The head of Canada's air force denies reports there's not enough money to replace the country's aging search-and-rescue aircraft, but admits purchasing replacements has been delayed because the air force is acquiring other aircraft to be used, primarily, in Afghanistan.

Lt.-Gen. Steve Lucas, Air Force chief of staff, said the armed forces is spending considerable effort -- and billions of dollars -- in purchasing four C-17 Globemaster long-range heavy-lift aircraft and 17 new Hercules C-130J transport aircraft. The military is also purchasing Chinook helicopters, and leasing tanks for its mission in Afghanistan.

All of this is reportedly bad news for oft-discussed plans to replace the 40-year-old Buffalo aircraft. Six of the planes are stationed at CFB Comox and, along with Cormorant helicopters, are used to fly rescue missions across British Columbia...

"It is not a question of money so much as it is a question of the people resources we have to work on this," he told the Times Colonist in an interview Friday in Victoria.

"We cannot do all of these things at the same time. We have to spread them out a little bit."

Even with all the money it wanted, the air force would be hard-pressed to find the trained manpower to bring all the new aircraft into service, while also overhauling search and rescue, said Lucas.

The aging Buffalo should last until 2015 without major investments, he said. That means the military will have to decide on a replacement before 2010 to get the new planes on time, said Lucas.

Privately, search and rescue crews have grumbled about continued delayed promises...

A future focus will be intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance by unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), said Lucas.

The current fleet of remote-controlled Canadian Sperwer drones does not react well to the hot conditions of Afghanistan and will likely be replaced by new UAVs in the future, he said.

Depending on what the military purchases, CFB Comox could see a squadron of UAVs stationed on Vancouver Island, said Lucas.

"We haven't made up our minds yet as to where out West we are going to base these. But in the longer term, there's a possibility that certainly Comox might factor into that discussion."..

UAVs would also be excellent for surveillance off the east coast and in the Arctic. Two possibilities here and here.