Here is a fairly reasonable report of the current situation regarding the present program and the alternative-
Time for Plan B?
2013-09-11 16:37:18
By Ken Pole - VERTICAL Magazine
The federal government’s confirmation that it is willing to consider alternatives to the Sikorsky CH-148 Cyclone for its Maritime Helicopter Project (MHP) has prompted AgustaWestland to voice renewed interest in what former Defence Minister Peter MacKay described as the “worst procurement in the history of Canada.”
It was a spokesperson for Public Works & Government Services Minister Diane Finley who disclosed in a published email that the government is “conducting an analysis of price and availability of other aircraft manufactured by other vendors.”
That was subsequently confirmed by Rear Admiral Patrick Finn, chief of staff, Material Group, at the Department of National Defence (DND). He called the development part of a reassessment of DND’s maritime needs.
"If there was to be a change of direction . . . we would have to work at what's the other solution, what's the different approach, and I wouldn't be able to give you any kind of schedule at this point," Finn told reporters. “We want to make sure that we get the capability that the navy needs and the air force operates on their behalf."
Finn also said the latest development should put pressure on Sikorsky to deliver fully-compliant aircraft rather than the few “interim” platforms being used for training at Canadian Forces Base Shearwater, N.S., where an informed sourced has told Vertical that after weeks of “absolutely no Cyclone activity,” the RCAF had begun classroom training of pilots and technicians, provided free of charge by Sikorsky. However, “backseat” tactical and sensor crewmembers, who would ordinarily sit in with the pilots, were not expected to begin classroom training until mid-October “at the earliest” because courseware was not ready.
The initial training sessions are not part of the government’s contract with Sikorsky, but are described as “an initiative between DND and Sikorsky to give the appearance that progress is being made and hopefully counter any cries for contract cancellation.” That being said, the training was expected to be a useful initial validation of the flight manuals and courseware.
Other sources have indicated that the interim Cyclones continue to have issues with engine power, vibration, electromagnetic interference and safety flotation. Sikorsky spokesman Paul Jackson would say only that the company remains focused on delivering a state-of-the-art helicopter. He declined comment on the alleged deficiencies which make the Cyclones “non-compliant” with Canadian requirements, explaining in an email that the decision not to comment was made by the OEM’s program and legal departments. “The questions focus on technical aspects of the aircraft, which by contractual agreement with the Canadian government we cannot publicly discuss,” he wrote.
Jackson did say that an independent report commissioned by Rona Ambrose, Public Works and Government Services Minister Diane Finley’s predecessor, “lays nearly all the blame for the . . . delays on the government’s procurement processes.”
The report by Hitachi Consulting states that the fundamental problem with the MHP is that “the government believed they bought an OTS (off-the-shelf) product” and that although the consultants believe that the Cyclones have the potential to offer “unsurpassed” capability, the government and Sikorsky are “misaligned in the most fundamental way.”
Hitachi has recommended that the government must act urgently to “test for program viability” by negotiating with Sikorsky and its missions-systems partner, General Dynamics Canada.
An AgustaWestland Alternative?
As for AgustaWestland, its managing director of international business, former UK Defence Secretary Geoffrey Hoon, told CBC Television from London on Sept. 10 that the Canadian government had not been “directly” in touch with the Anglo-Italian conglomerate.
“We wouldn’t expect them to before they’ve taken a decision in the interests of the Canadian people and the . . . Air Force, but we stand ready to be of assistance,” Hoon said. “We have a long record of support for helicopters in Canada and we would be delighted, obviously, if Canada decided to come to us and asked us to be of further assistance.”
AgustaWestland lost the MHP competition in 2004 even though its AW101 (designated the CH-149 Cormorant by the RCAF) fit all the requirements, and has been the backbone of Canadian military search and rescue since 2000. Sikorsky won on the basis of price for a “lowest cost compliant” helicopter.
Hoon declined to speculate on why Sikorsky now seemed stymied by the operational requirements. “That is entirely and rightly a matter for the Canadian government,” he replied. “What I can say, however, is that we have by far the best helicopter currently available on the market.”
Noting that naval variants are in service with the UK, Italy and Japan, he insisted the AW101 could satisfy Canada’s “demanding requirements” for the MHP. “I’m in absolutely no doubt that if Canada does take the decision to replace its existing helicopter, we are in a very strong position to satisfy those demanding requirements. Indeed, we conducted a very thorough survey of those requirements and I’m confident that we can meet, if not exceed, the demanding needs of Canada today. . . . We are available to supply the right machine at the right price.”
In the meantime, it has been confirmed that a Canadian government delegation has visited a Royal Navy base to have a closer look at the UK’s Merlin naval variants.
Jeremy Tracy, a former Royal Air Force pilot and AgustaWestland test pilot who is the company’s Ottawa-based head of region for Canada, acknowledged on Sept. 11 that when the company lost to Sikorsky in 2004, the venture “went off our radar until . . . the issue really started boiling up in Parliament” where the government has come under stiff criticism from the Opposition over the troubled program.
“It was apparent . . . that there were difficulties and at that stage the company reinitiated a survey of all the points of the Statement of Operational Requirements that emanated from the original competition to see whether the AW101 would be compliant,” he told Vertical. “We ascertained that the aircraft was compliant and would still meet the original DND requirements.”
Tracy said the AW101 not only “restores the range and endurance to the original specification” but also has “tremendously good” one-engine-inoperative performance, a “capacious cabin” and key safety features proven in the CH-149, including flight into icing conditions.
“One of the main benefits would be its commonality with the Cormorant, which then allows you a simpler logistics chain for the total fleet and also a common training base, which was, really, the advantage at the very outset when the aircraft was considered in the late ‘80s.
“The other thing that we stress is the NATO commonality. . . . You have essentially the same aircraft operating not only at sea but also in other trouble spots like Afghanistan, where Italy was very present and the UK, too. Denmark is going to Afghanistan at some point. So there are a number of military operators where that commonality may be prevalent.”
Its deployment to Afghanistan and Iraq also has proven the AW101’s capabilities in desert and mountain operations. “The aircraft has had really quite a good performance on the hot-and-high side, with the RAF and Italian Navy operating there,” Tracy said. “The aircraft was the battle commander’s aircraft of choice in Iraq due to availability, smoothness and speed. One of the benefits we see for the future in terms of having upgraded AW101s is the engines go to the General Electric CT7-8E engine, which has even better hot-and-high performance (than the Rolls-Royce Turbomeca RTM322 in the original aircraft). It’s one of the benefits we see for the future. Everybody’s considering that.”
He also pointed out that the aircraft has proven itself in the Canadian environment despite some early teething problems. “It’s now gone over 58,000 hours with the Canadian Forces and it has a tremendous record of availability for search and rescue – 99 per cent of the time for the SAR commitment.”
Despite his optimism, he demurred when asked how quickly AgustaWestland could begin delivering aircraft if the government did scrap its contract with Sikorsky.
“It would depend entirely on what DND wanted to pursue. If they wanted to go for a Merlin Mk 2 system, that would be a lot easier for us and Lockheed Martin, as this upgrade is just entering service. But we suspect that they won’t because they probably would want a (rear) ramped aircraft. We could produce a naval variant with that. Also, if they wanted to stay with the GDC mission system, we know nothing about that. So we would have to talk to GDC…. But if they wanted to go with a mission system that we know – we’ve obviously integrated a fair number of mission systems – into our helicopters, we could find that a lot simpler. I can’t really give you a time. . . . That would require detailed discussions.
“We would also naturally involve Canadian industry in any solution we have and we do have a current teaming agreement for 101 activities with IMP, who as you know, are already doing depot level maintenance on the Cormorant, as DND’s preferred supplier of ISS (in-service support), so they are very familiar with the type. Everything on this file depends on which course the government wishes to follow, and we can only be reactive to that; but as you can see, we have prepared for the approach – should it come.”.
