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A-10 Warthogs for the CF ??

  • Thread starter Thread starter jrhume
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Cutting edge and the aerospace industry are not one and the same (they would like to be but just can't risk it). Technology takes a long time and allot of money to develop and prove. This is why there are so few aircraft under development and in production today.
Aircraft do not have a best before date. The hardest thing to keep current in aircraft today is the electronics. They say that by the time you get your home computer home it is out of date. Well by the time you get your new electronics in your aircraft it is well over a decade out of date due to the development and testing periods. Our little Bell412s (Griffons) are a militarized civilian helicopter that is based on a military helicopter, the Huey. Originally the Huey was intended to be a utility chopper and in that role they excel. For heavy lifting and moving a platoon of infantry at a time you had the Chinook. Well the shithook is gone and if you want something moved start pushing.

We missed the boat, we could have standardized down to one rotary wing airframe across the forces and maintained much of our capability. Replaced the Kiowa, Huey, Chinook and Sea king with the Hawk series(Black Hawk, Sea Hawk, etc..). By cutting back to one aircraft we would reduce the maint costs through economy of scale.

Here comes the boat again the US is offering surplus Hawk airframes for sale and with our purchase of the new H-92 Super hawks which use the same power plants and flight dynamics we could still say we only had one aircraft model to maintain and the supply inventory to prove it.. 
Allot changed between 1956 when the Huey first flew and 1976 when the Black hawk first flew. We would also benefit from the ongoing research in the US as we would be flying the same aircraft as our major defence partner who plans on keeping the type in service until 2025-2030.
 
there was a reason canada did standardize their helo airframe to the black/seahawk.  first off the seahawk was not suitable for the navy for many reasons.  mainly it was too small and was not up to the job in the north atlantic.  as for the blackhawk, the political angle of bell helicopter being in montreal pretty much sealed the deal.  there were also concerns with the blackhawk as the aussies were having a lot of trouble with theirs around that time with corrosion and durability.  was the griffon a bad decision of course, but the boat was missed by not rationalizing the airframe when the eh101.  canada has little need for a helo the griffons size considering the size of the armed forces and the abilities of the ch146.  as for upgrading the griffons to carry weapons it just isn't possible to mount anything other than maybe mg pods and small rocket pods.  a hellfire would down the airplane as quickly as it would knock out a tank, the airframe just isn't strong enough to support firing a missile that powerful.
 
Sorry Ringo, but the Griffon can support Hellfires.  Under the ERSTA (Electro-optical Reconnaissance
Surveillance and Target Acquisition) project, the mounting of machine guns, rockets and Hellfire AT missiles was theorized.

http://www.forces.gc.ca/site/community/mapleleaf/html_files/html_view_e.asp?page=vol5-20airforce

 
Zoomie said:
Sorry Ringo, but the Griffon can support Hellfires.   Under the ERSTA (Electro-optical Reconnaissance
Surveillance and Target Acquisition) project, the mounting of machine guns, rockets and Hellfire AT missiles was theorized.

http://www.forces.gc.ca/site/community/mapleleaf/html_files/html_view_e.asp?page=vol5-20airforce

i believe the key word there is "theorized".  all they are saying is that ersta system would allow the griffon to carry the hellfire and provide guidance the truth is though the airframe is not strong enough to support a hellfire launch.  i have this on good authority from people who were involved with the ersta project.  the system is meant to be just a surveillance device and a designator if ever needed.
 
Ringo,

Your good authority is not so good. A trial was done a few years ago with a Griffon equipped with a floor plank (looks like a plank that bolts to the floor and sticks out either door a few feet) that would allow it to carry 4 Hellfire and a .50 HMG. It was all made public in the Infantry Journal (sorry, no longer on the internet).

As for upgrading the Griffon, 25 are to be equipped with the ERSTA package (including armament). Also, 1 Wing was looking at a remanufacture program to bring the Griffon up to the standard of the UH-1Y. According to the people at Bell, this is totally feasible and would nearly double the load of the Griffon.

Alex
 
I forgot I had a pic of the Griffon avec Hellfires
 
Thanks Inch! That's exactly what I was talking about. As for a Griffon airframe not being strong enough to withstand a Hellfire launch.... huh? Its not a cannon, its a missile. The recoil forces of firing a Hellfire are so small that they are almost negligible. This is totally do-able and would finally give our Tac Hel guys a real firepower role.

Alex
 
The Predator UAV can fire the hellfire, and it's not exactly a heavily armoured, tough airframe..
 
What "new" choppers are on the horizon?

I am looking but not really seeing great leaps forward.
 

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