RCAF Sea King 50 Year Life Span Coming to A Close

By: Brett Ruskin · Reporter/Videojournalist · CBC News

The outgoing Sea King helicopter, right, and its replacement, the Cyclone, at their East Coast headquarters at 12 Wing Shearwater near Halifax. (Brett Ruskin/CBC)

Canada's half-century-old Sea King helicopters will take a step closer to retirement next month, with the last official East Coast flight planned for Jan. 26, CBC News has learned.

West Coast operations will continue until December 2018, military officials said, at which point the new Cyclone aircraft will officially take over as Canada's Maritime helicopter.

There still may be some Sea King flights on the East Coast past January, but only for logistical reasons, such as repositioning the aircraft locally or sending them to other parts of the country.

Sea Kings have been operating in Canada since 1963.

The multipurpose workhorse aircraft is paired with every Royal Canadian Navy frigate. Its tail and rotors fold so it fits inside the ship. Its hull is designed to perform emergency water landings, and it can be outfitted as a submarine hunter, with sonar systems and torpedoes.
Cyclone helicopters still being tweaked

The Sea King's replacement is the Cyclone, a military variant of the Sikorsky S-92.

The federal government has accepted delivery of more than a dozen Cyclone aircraft, but not all of them are currently in Canada.

A Canadian military Sikorsky CH-148 Cyclone conducts test flights with HMCS Montreal in Halifax Harbour on April 1, 2010. (Andrew Vaughan/Canadian Press)

Life at sea is fun...but it's no joke! Cyclone helicopter remains firmly attached to MONTREAL's deck during trials. pic.twitter.com/uDx72CKO0q

— Craig Baines (@MapleSeaLeaf) March 3, 2017

Each new batch of helicopters is flown and tested by Canadian aircraft experts. If changes are needed, the helicopters are sent back to Sikorsky to re-enter the production cycle and the improvements are made for future versions.

There have been at least three different batches or "blocks" delivered to Canada.
New issue discovered

The navy recently discovered a new problem with the latest block of Cyclones.

Just like the Sea Kings, these helicopters are designed to land on ships at sea. To test the Cyclone's limits, the crew of HMCS Montreal spent months seeking the worst weather and highest seas.

In extreme conditions, the Cyclone can use a cable to safely land on a ship. While the helicopter hovers above the surging and tilting vessel, the cable slowly winches the aircraft down.

The method is highly effective, but officials found it can cause problems for another important system.

The Cyclone is also equipped with a sonar system that it lowers into the water on a tether. It dips beneath the surface and sends out pings to search for submarines.

Sonar could hit ship during landings

"Analyses have shown that, in theory, it is possible for the sonar submersible unit to contact the ship-mounted assisted-recovery system when operating in high sea state condition," said an emailed statement from Department of National Defence officials.

Put simply, both the sonar and landing systems work fine. But due to the sonar's position, it could hit the ship when the helicopter uses the cable landing system.

The long-term fix will be to reposition the sonar system. Until Sikorsky makes that change, the current group of helicopters can either be used as shore-based aircraft, or have the sonar system removed for ship-based operations.

Even without the tethered sonar system, the Cyclone can still search beneath the surface. An additional sonar system sends remote buoys into the ocean that transmit acoustic information wirelessly back to the helicopter.

The next block of Cyclones will fix the sonar issue by repositioning the mechanism. That block should be delivered by June 2018.

Last RCN Destroyer to be Retired in 2017

By: David Pugliese, National Post 

Canada’s last destroyer will be taken out of service in the spring, leaving the country’s navy reliant on allies for longer-range air defence for at least the next seven years.

HMCS Athabaskan, and similar destroyers, provided command and control capabilities over the years for the Royal Canadian Navy as well as what was called area air defence.

But Athabaskan, Canada’s last destroyer, will be taken out of service within the next year, most likely in the spring, Vice-Admiral Ron Lloyd, the new commander of the Royal Canadian Navy, told Postmedia Wednesday.

Canada’s warships still have the capability to protect themselves from direct, incoming air threats but will have to rely mainly on U.S. ships to deal with missiles and aircraft at longer ranges.

“We won’t be able to fill that long-range air defence gap,” Lloyd said. “You would be looking at your U.S. longrange air defence platforms for that coalition support as we go forward.”

The RCN won’t have that air defence capability back until about 2024 when the first of the new Canadian Surface Combatants is expected to be in the water.

Lloyd said some of the command and control functions that the destroyers had provided have been moved over to four existing Halifaxclass frigates. “We’re quite happy with the interim command and control capability we’ve put into the four modernized frigates,” he said.

The Navy will continue to ensure its training prepares sailors for area air defence capabilities so they are ready when those systems return in the new surface combatants.

Over the years, naval officers have continued to warn the Canadian government that a capability gap would emerge.

The first Canadian Surface Combatant was originally expected to be delivered in 2016 but problems with the Conservative government’s shipbuilding strategy derailed that plan.

In late 2007, Vice-Admiral Drew Robertson, then head of the navy, warned the Conservative government it needed to approve immediately a plan to replace the destroyers or face a gap in providing air defence and command and control for maritime task forces.

“Without both the force air defence and command capabilities these ships provide, Canada will not be able to safely operate a Task Group in contested waters — the key capability that provides to Canada the capacity for sovereign and independent action at sea, either at home or abroad, and from which derives the ability to lead international coalition or alliance operations,” Robertson wrote in the navy’s strategic assessment, obtained by Postmedia.

Lloyd noted that the Navy has more frigates available than it did several years ago, when many were in the process of being upgraded.

The multibillion-dollar modernization included a new combat management system and radars, a new electronic warfare system and upgraded communications and missiles.

“Now that we’re coming out of that extraordinarily successful modernization program, we have our capacity back so we have more ships available to go to sea,” Lloyd said.

He said at any one time the Navy has between nine to 10 frigates available.

Lloyd noted that the Navy also expects a return to refuelling capability when an interim supply ship becomes available in the fall of next year. A commercial vessel is being converted at Davie shipyards in Quebec and will be leased to the federal government for that role.

RCAF celebrates 92 years of service

RCAF Press Release:
By Joanna Calder

On Friday, April 1, 2016, the Royal Canadian Air Force celebrated its 92nd birthday.

During the First World War, Canadians took to combat flying so well that, by the spring of 1918, the government of Prime Minister Robert Borden pressed for the development of an air wing, consisting of eight squadrons, for service with the Canadian Corps in France.

But Britain wanted to keep talented Canadian air and ground crew within the Royal Air Force (RAF) and they succeeded in limiting the number of Canadian squadrons.

Nevertheless, on August 5, 1918, the British Air Ministry announced the formation of two RAF squadrons to be manned entirely by Canadians. A Canadian Order-in-Council confirmed the formation of the Canadian Air Force (CAF) on September 19 for “the purposes of the present war”.

The Canadian Air Force (CAF) was created too late in the First World War for significant growth. Six more squadrons were planned for service in Europe, but with the war's end on November 11, 1918, the plans were not implemented.

What would become of the fledgling CAF?

“In the immediate aftermath of the First World War, Canada’s need for an air force was not readily identifiable,” says W.A.B. Douglas in the second volume of the Royal Canadian Air Force’s official history. “The country faced no discernible external threat. Canadians had little appreciation for expenditures on such esoteric military commitments.

“The short-lived Canadian Air Force…had been left in limbo by the Armistice.”

By February 5, 1920, the two CAF squadrons (still cooling their heels overseas) had been disbanded and their personnel sent back to Canada.
A new non-permanent Canadian Air Force

Fortunately, there were several individuals who pushed for government oversight and development of aviation – both military and civilian. On February 18, 1920, an Order-in-Council authorized a new, part-time, non-permanent CAF with a provisional establishment of 1,340 officers and 3,905 airmen.

The first aircraft flown by the new CAF were actually gifts from Great Britain and the United States following the end of the war. Canada also inherited the British training stations that had been established in Ontario and CAF training was concentrated at Camp Borden, Ontario, which had been the wartime home of the RAF Canada flying training scheme.

The CAF became part of a civilian Air Board. Throughout the 1920s and 1930s, the Air Force conducted aerial mapping operations, forest fire, anti-smuggling and fisheries patrols, and forest surveys, and developed airmail and long-distance flying routes.

These operations gave the CAF a raison d’être for continued government funding. This enabled the development of officers and senior non-commissioned members who would later ensure the RCAF made a successful transition from training to wartime operations.
A permanent air force is born

On January 1, 1923, the Department of National Defence was born from the amalgamation of the Department of Naval Services, the Department of Militia and Defence, and the Air Board.

On February 12, 1923, His Majesty King George V bestowed the designation "Royal" on the Canadian Air Force; the Militia Weekly Order of March 12 made the announcement. However, the name didn’t become official until April 1, 1924. On that date, the RCAF became a permanent component of Canada’s defence force and King’s Regulations and Orders for the RCAF came into effect.

April 1, 1924, has been celebrated ever since as the birthday of the Royal Canadian Air Force.

The RCAF began with 62 officers of the Permanent Active Air Force (similar to today’s Regular Force) and four of the Non-Permanent Active Air Force (similar to the Reserve Force), as well as 262 non-commissioned members.

The new RCAF adopted the RAF’s motto Per Ardua Ad Astra – "Through adversity to the stars" – which replaced the CAF’s original motto Sic Itur Ad Astra – "Such is the pathway" (or “This is the way”) to the stars. The RCAF also adopted the RAF’s blue-grey uniform and, a couple of decades later, also borrowed the RAF’s march past.
Air Command is established

Fast forward more than four decades to 1968, and the Unification Act that brought the three services into a single, tri-service force called the Canadian Armed Forces.

The RCAF got the short end of the stick. While the Navy became Maritime Command and the Army became Mobile (later Land Force) Command, the air force disappeared entirely and its functions were spread among five commands: Maritime, Land Force, Air Defence, Air Transport and Training.

Fortunately, Lieutenant-General Bill Carr, the Deputy Chief of the Defence Staff, knew the division of air assets and the lack of a single command structure wasn’t working – and he was in a position to do something about it.

“Unification, when first announced, was – I felt – a good idea,” he said in a 2005 interview. “Within a few years it became apparent that the amalgamation of all the services had particularly impacted the aviation arm in a harmful manner….

“We really needed to create a consolidated organization to properly administer all military aviation in Canada.”

On September 2, 1975, Lieutenant-General Carr’s efforts paid off and Air Command was created. With Lieutenant-General Carr at its helm, the command once again brought all military air assets under a single organization and commander.

A new badge was created, showing an eagle rising from a crown. The new command adopted Sic Itur Ad Astra as its motto, which was a return to the motto used by the Canadian Air Force when it was first established in 1920.
Royal Canadian Air Force redux

In 2011, the air element in the Canadian Armed Forces returned to its historical roots when its original name – Royal Canadian Air Force – was restored. Two years later, the Governor General approved a new badge for the reborn RCAF that reflected both the old and the new. The centre piece of the new badge shows an eagle with its wings outspread, as did the original RCAF badge. But the motto remains that of the original Canadian Air Force and Air Command: Sic Itur Ad Astra.

Since then, the RCAF has also put in place a new system of rank insignia that reflects the pre-unification colours of silver and black, and the rank of “private” has become “aviator”.