CH-148 Cyclone Progress

[The Bread Guy]

I'm not sure what to make of this, but it is reproduced, without further comment, under the Fair Dealing provisions of the Copyright Act from the Globe and Mail:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/sea-kings-could-be-retired-sooner-under-proposal-from-us-aircraft-maker/article13472242/#dashboard/follows/

The Harper government has been asked to accept the air force’s long-delayed CH-148 Cyclone maritime helicopters as they are currently configured and gradually phase them into service using regular software upgrades intended to make the aircraft fully operational ....

I know you want these options on your truck for your business, but I have an idea - we'll sell you the truck as is, at full cost, and we'll add the bits you need to do your work a bit at a time.  By the way, you won't be able to drive it at night or in the rain for the first while.

What could possibly go wrong?

- edited to add bits in yellow -

 

[dapaterson]

What could possibly go wrong?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SqvCq21Z1xE

 

[The Bread Guy]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SqvCq21Z1xE

Perfect (even in a chopper)!

 

[Colin Parkinson]

I suspect we are kind of stuck at this stage, even if we pulled the plug and turned around and ordered the E101, we would still have to go through about 5 years of haggling and then go through the same issues with outfitting them for ASW and other tasks. We should have pulled the plugs several years ago on Sikorsky for failing to provide what the contract stated. while perhaps our contract terms were not based in reality, they did agree to them and knew exactly what they were and what they could deliver.

 

[dapaterson]

By the way, you won't be able to drive it at night or in the rain for the first while.

Worse.  It's not flight in the rain that's prohibited, it's flight over water.

A bit of a limiting factor for a maritime helicopter.

 

[jollyjacktar]

Some news.  Shared under the provisions of Sec 29 of the copyright act.

Testing of Sea King replacement to begin in AugustJuly 28, 2013 - 3:20pm By THE CANADIAN PRESS

OTTAWA — Flight testing of the air force’s long-delayed CH-148 Cyclone helicopters is set to begin next month in Nova Scotia.

The manufacturer and National Defence have agreed to the proposal, inching the politically painful program ahead for the Harper government, which has grown more impatient and vocal in its frustration over the replacement of decades-old Sea Kings.

United Technologies Corp., the parent company of Sikorsky Aircraft, told market analysts this week that Canadian air force pilots and technicians will begin giving the aircraft its shakedown exercises at the base in Shearwater in early August.

The evaluation is taking place even though defence has refused to accept formal ownership of the Cyclones in what’s become a long-running dispute with Sikorsky over delays in delivering a final version of the aircraft.

At the centre of the dispute is software to run the aircraft and the variety of missions it is expected to undertake.

Sikorsky has agreed to provide the basic program and upgrades every few months until the aircraft is fully “mission ready,” but the government has refused to accept the aircraft until the final software installation.

About the Author
By THE CANADIAN PRESS

 

[Colin Parkinson]

Guess I should have done more reading,  :facepalm: did not realize the EH101 already has folding tails and rotor blades. that would certainly remove a lot of design time from my estimate. Also they claim an existing ASW suite option for the EH101, how compatible would that be with a current shipboard systems?

http://www.agustawestland.com/product/aw101-1

 

[Haletown]

How much of this is the helicopter performance vs the software/mission equipment?

 

[h3tacco]

Guess I should have done more reading,  :facepalm: did not realize the EH101 already has folding tails and rotor blades. that would certainly remove a lot of design time from my estimate. Also they claim an existing ASW suite option for the EH101, how compatible would that be with a current shipboard systems?

http://www.agustawestland.com/product/aw101-1

Not a surprise given one of the original goals of the EH-101 was a shipboard ASW platform to replace the RN Sea King.

 

[h3tacco]

How much of this is the helicopter performance vs the software/mission equipment?

Both

 

[Kirkhill]

Is Sikorsky picking up flak that General Dynamics Canada should be dodging?

Sikorsky was supposed to present a flying platform into which General Dynamics Canada would fit a variety of sensors from multiple vendors.

What happens when the Sikorsky avionics suite needs to power, and talk to, the General Dynamics Canada weapons suite?  Who is in charge of squaring the circles?

 

[h3tacco]

The GoC only signed a contract with Sikorsky. GDC is a sub-contractor to Sikorsky. Sikorsky is responsible to the crown for the entire MH acquisition contract.

 

[FSTO]

It is called the Merlin, and it is what we would of had if Chretian had carried on with the contract.

http://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/News-and-Events/Latest-News/2013/July/24/130724-RN-Merlin-helicopters

 

[Kirkhill]

The GoC only signed a contract with Sikorsky. GDC is a sub-contractor to Sikorsky. Sikorsky is responsible to the crown for the entire MH acquisition contract.

Thanks for the correction H3tacco. 

 

[observor 69]

It is called the Merlin, and it is what we would of had if Chretian had carried on with the contract.

http://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/News-and-Events/Latest-News/2013/July/24/130724-RN-Merlin-helicopters

I am just so dam jealous. 

 

[Edward Campbell]

A reminder, from Michael de Adder, reproduced under the Fair Dealing provisions of the Copyright Act from the Ottawa Citizen:

http://www.ottawacitizen.com/opinion/editorial-cartoons/index.html

 

[Edward Campbell]

Journalist and Milnet.ca member James Cudmore is reporting, right now, on CBC Radio News that the government is "exploring other options," which he suggests might be a different (interim?) helicopter.


Edit to add: Here is a link to the a story.

 

[FSTO]

From what I read of the Hitachi report is this:

- Government thought it was buying an OTS helicopter (which I read as an aircraft ready to fly with all the bells and whistles working);
- Sikorsky felt that this was another developmental helo that would deliver interim (not fully mission capable) birds with subsequent birds being more and more capable as the bugs are fixed.

As a result, our governments inherent inability to be flexible and nimble has caused a pretty strait forward procurement to become the decades long debacle. It also doesn't help that the folks who make the rules and decisions (Treasury Board) do not have one iota of a clue on anything military.

 

[dapaterson]

It also doesn't help that the folks who make the rules and decisions (Treasury Board) do not have one iota of a clue on anything military.

They know what they are told in submissions to the board.  Who writes those submissions?  DND/CAF.

So, if person A is ignorant of a fact, and person B who is responsible for it never told person A, is the problem with person A or person B?

 

[Rifleman62]

DAP: Why do you continually have to be so realistic and scupper people’s reverie?