Kustom Kopters

On July 16 then MND O'Connor said he expected contracts for CH-47 Chinooks (and for C-130J Hercules--still not done) to be signed in a "couple of months". Now this. One hopes a Conservative government will still be in office when a contract is finally ready for signature and that the aircraft will still be needed in Afstan when they become operational--a point on which I'm sure the opposition parties will jump (not that one wants our troops there any longer than necessary). Is the best the enemy of the good?

Canada's air force wants to upgrade the design of its planned CH-47 Chinook battlefield helicopter and is offering Boeing a limited contract to construct a couple of prototype aircraft, defence sources say.

The Chief of Air Staff, Lieutenant-General Angus Watt, confirmed project staff have asked for changes, but would not discuss the specifics of the negotiations under way with the Chicago-based aircraft giant.

He said he's confident the continuing talks and the redesign will not affect the delivery date of the 16 medium-lift helicopters, which the army has identified as essential in getting Canadian troops off the bomb-strewn roads of southern Afghanistan.

But air force observers are worried the request, made earlier this year, will knock the project off schedule, pushing the arrival of the aircraft out past 2011.

Much like vehicles coming off the assembly line, helicopters can come with a variety of different features and Lt.-Gen. Watt compared the impending $4.7-billion purchase to buying a pickup truck or SUV.

"We don't want a basic truck," he said in an interview. "Because we have a relatively small fleet without all of the additional bells and whistles and extra capabilities, we want that fleet to be more than a basic truck so it can do those missions in a little more demanding circumstances."

One of the most important upgrades the air force wants to see is better armour and weapons so the choppers can perform casualty evacuation.

Canadian troops wounded in battle in Afghanistan are currently airlifted to hospital in specially outfitted U.S. Blackhawks. The modifications being requested would not upgrade the Chinooks to a full Medevac role, which would require the installation of a suite of life-saving equipment, but would allow for the timely airlift of most wounded soldiers.

Lt.-Gen. Watt said there are other design changes meant to allow the Chinooks to operate in bad weather and fly over vast distances - necessary features if the aircraft are to be useful to the army in the Arctic during the summer. The air force also wants the CH-47 to act as a backup search-and-rescue helicopter for the sometimes troubled Cormorant.

When the medium-lift helicopter program was announced, former defence minister Gordon O'Connor said he expected delivery of the first aircraft in 2010 or 36 months after a contract was signed.

Yet, over a year after the Conservative government invoked an advanced contract award notice, citing national security and Boeing as the only company capable of delivering the required aircraft, it has yet to strike a formal contract. The delay, coupled with the possibility Canada's combat role in Afghanistan could end in February, 2009, has military experts nervous and wondering about the future of the program.

Alex Morrison, president of the Canadian Institute of Strategic Studies, said it's possible to analyze a program to death.

"I think they have to very quickly settle on what they want," Mr. Morrison said. "My strategic concern is that if we do leave Afghanistan, if we stop engaging in combat in Afghanistan at the end of February, 2009, and contracts aren't signed, there's an awful temptation to say, 'We don't need these things.' " Air force planners say 16 helicopters are the minimum needed to do the job required, but documents released by the project office suggest the fleet size could eventually grow to 35 [where will the money come from? Maritime patrol? UAVs? Fixed-wing SAR?].

Defence sources said that offering Boeing a so-called risk-reduction contract to build a couple of helicopters to Canadian specifications would be a way to move the project forward.

Lt.-Gen. Watt said planners are "looking at all possibilities," but they're confident they can meet the stringent guidelines demanded when you fast track a contract."

Here's a comment thread at Milnet.ca.