Latest in the "right tools for the job" category
If the contractor is correct, that low-cost improvements can be quickly delivered, it's certainly an option to be considered. Would continuous route surveillance be possible if the Sperwers were upgraded? Lacking any choppers, this would seem to be an option to help reduce IED risk, in conjunction with the new Buffalo and Husky deployment.Afghan spy plane can't always provide best information; builder says it has offered fix
The Ottawa Citizen
Wednesday, August 29, 2007Canadian troops in Afghanistan are being put at risk because of the limited capabilities of the aerial drones that provide them with surveillance, say soldiers on the ground.
The use of the Sperwer unmanned aerial vehicles in Kandahar are being hindered by extremely hot temperatures, the aircraft's limited endurance, as well as serviceability problems, military officers said privately. Those limitations have also resulted in gaps in surveillance coverage during recent firefights in the Kandahar area, putting soldiers at risk, they add.
Defence Department officials declined for reasons of operational security to discuss specifics related to the Sperwer's performance in Afghanistan.
But the firm handling the Sperwer contract, Rheinmetall Canada, says they've been standing by for months with low-cost improvements to the system that will significantly increase the aircraft's endurance and could be put in place in a matter of days in some cases. But the Quebec-based company says it has yet to hear back from the Defence Department.
posted by WE Speak at 6:47 a.m.
1 Comments:
Mr Pugliese, in his inimitable fashion for providing "context" also writes:
"The Conservatives have already committed to spending billions of dollars on sole-source contracts on helicopters and transport aircraft built by U.S. aerospace firms. That, in turn, has fuelled criticism in the Commons as well as worries among some Conservative MPs that domestic firms may be left on the sidelines..."
Mr Pugliese, in his inimitable fashion, fails to provide more context:
1) No contracts have yet actually been signed for the C-130Js and Ch-47s (though they almost certainly will be unless the government falls first);
2) There are no Canadian firms that build aircraft capable of competing for the two transport aircraft and for the helicopter requirements--unless of course the reference is only to sub-contracts. But if that is the case it should be made clear. And it is the sub-contracts that are holding up the C-130J contract. More here from Babbling.
The usual economy with facts.
Mark
Ottawa
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