THE WATCH STAFF
U.S. aircraft manufacturer Boeing is offering the P-8A Poseidon to the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) as a candidate to replace its maritime patrol CP-140 Aurora.
The turboprop CP-140, built and first flown by Lockheed Martin in the 1970s, is based on the
P-3 Orion, according to a February 10, 2022, story on the military news website Breaking Defense. The RCAF recently published a request for information on candidates to replace the CP-140 with a Canadian multimission aircraft, according to a February 10 news release from Boeing.
“Canada’s large size necessitates an aircraft with long range and loiter times to ensure the platform can transit to operating areas and remain on station for sufficient time,” said Canada’s Department of National Defence (DND), according to the aviation news website FlightGlobal.
Canada and the United States are partners in the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), which is responsible for providing aerospace warning, aerospace control and maritime warning for the defense of North America.
Ottawa has not specified the number of aircraft it will need to replace the CP-140 but expects initial delivery of a replacement by 2032 or 2033, according to FlightGlobal. The DND estimates the value of the multimission aircraft project will be more than U.S. $5 billion.
The long-range P-8, pictured, is flown by militaries from Australia, Germany, India, New Zealand, Norway, South Korea, the United Kingdom and the United States. It’s based on a version of Boeing’s commercial 737 jetliner and can be used in anti-submarine, surface-warfare, reconnaissance and search-and-rescue roles. The P-8 can carry four Harpoon anti-ship missiles and five torpedoes, according to Boeing, in addition to sonobuoys. The plane has an endurance of more than 10 hours before needing to refuel.
“The range, speed, and endurance of the P-8 makes it the perfect platform to monitor Canada’s northern and maritime approaches, and the P-8 will ensure allied interoperability to meet Canada’s security commitments,” Tim Flood, a Boeing executive, said in a news release.
Boeing’s pitch to Canada comes as the U.S. Navy is wrapping up production on the surveillance aircraft. In fiscal 2021, the service planned to purchase its last batch of nine P-8s and said future funding would be limited to support items and services, according to Breaking Defense.
The CP-140 entered Canadian service in 1980 and the “life-extended Aurora fleet has now given yeoman service for more than four decades and proved remarkably adaptable … to a geo-strategic environment quite different to that prevailing at the time of its acquisition,” according to a story in the Autumn 2021 issue of the Canadian Military Journal.
Canada and the U.S. issued a joint statement in August 2021 that committed both nations to modernizing NORAD’s defense capabilities.
IMAGE CREDIT: BOEING