CP-140 Aurora

[Eye In The Sky]

BZ to the Demons; out the door and operational in quick time.

Article Link

CAF’s Aurora aircraft gathers aerial imagery in the Caribbean to support hurricane relief

By: Captain Dallas Bregg, Pilot, 407 Long Range Patrol Squadron

On September 15, 2017, a CP-140 Aurora patrol aircraft arrived in Barbados as part of Operation RENAISSANCE IRMA MARIA—the Canadian Armed Forces mission to support hurricane relief in the Caribbean.

The Aurora, which came from 407 Long Range Patrol Squadron out of 19 Wing Comox, British Columbia, had the task of capturing aerial imagery to support partner nations in their relief efforts.

“This valuable imagery helps our partners better assess and respond to the aftermath of Hurricane Irma,” explained First Officer Captain Tai Feng.

The [sic]CC-140 Aurora’s multi-spectrum Block III sensor suite lends itself well the overland watch of the devastation in the region. Specifically, its full motion video capabilities have given British and Canadian commanders on the ground in Barbados a sense of the devastation caused by the hurricane. This information is crucial for assessment and planning purposes.

Due to the complex and constantly changing situation in the Caribbean region, the 18-member crew of the Aurora were given 12-hour notice to move. This flexibility allowed the Aurora to be on the ground in Barbados immediately after being tasked. Once on the ground, the two-member crew of the CAF Deployable Mission Support Centre (DMSC) quickly configured their equipment so it could process the imagery it would collect.

“The aircraft, crew and DMSC were mission capable within 24 hours of landing,” said Captain Feng. “Our team’s flexibility was again tested when were tasked to fly our first mission and then land before the next hurricane hit.”

Working alongside their British counterparts, the CP-140 detachment collected imagery of five of the hardest hit islands: Turks and Caicos, Montserrat, Dominica, British Virgin Islands, and Anguilla.

“My heart goes out to the people of the Caribbean,” said Airborne Electronic Sensor Operator, Corporal Kyle Keigan, while describing his experience filming the devastated islands.

While deployed in the Caribbean, the Aurora flew more than 37 hours, collecting valuable imagery that enabled partner nations to help people in need. The Aurora and its crew departed Barbados to return to Canada on September 24, 2017, once its mission was complete.

Through Operation RENAISSANCE IRMA MARIA, the Canadian Armed Forces is delivering a rapid response that is flexible enough to make an immediate positive impact at the scene of the disaster, and to continue helping people as the situation develops.
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The Maple Leaf is as accurate as it ever was.  CC-140 Aurora.  :

The first 2 pictures are CP-140 AES Ops, not 'equipment technicians'.  Who are the stunned fucks working at TML who write this shit?

 

[Good2Golf]

...The Maple Leaf is as accurate as it ever was.  CC-140 Aurora.  :

The first 2 pictures are CP-140 AES Ops, not 'equipment technicians'.  Who are the stunned fucks working at TML who write this shit?

Ummm....

By: Captain Dallas Bregg, Pilot, 407 Long Range Patrol Squadron

  :dunno:

 

[Eye In The Sky]

I think the article, in part was written by him but the CC-140 and equipment tech stuff has to be by the editors or someone.  Skippers, etc sometimes get tasked with doing a write-up on a mission, but they don't put the final edition into "print".

There was an Image Tech and, I suspect, a PAO involved;  you can see quotes around the stuff the Dallas and Kyle said to "someone".  I don't think he interviewed himself.  8) From the first pic of the AES Op  "Photo: Corporal Gary Calvé, imagery technician ATF RENAISSANCE".

 

[Eye In The Sky]

Successful deployment to OP CARIBBE in support of JIATF-S (Joint Interagency Task Force - South)

Article Link

A Royal Canadian Air Force CP-140 Aurora is on its way home after assisting the US Coast Guard in seizing and disrupting over 5 tonnes of cocaine.

This is the 3rd highest mission success for the CP-140 over the past 11 years on Operation CARIBBE.

 

[kev994]

Was op caribbe tax free this year?

 

[Eye In The Sky]

Not 100% *but* CANFORGEN 226/17 released on 18 Dec that said:

THE ENHANCED TAX RELIEF IS APPLICABLE TO NAMED OPERATIONS (REF D) AND THOSE SPECIFICALLY APPROVED BY THE CDS SINCE REF D WAS ISSUED FOR 2017 DEPLOYMENTS. IT IS APPLICABLE TO ALL CAF MEMBERS DEPLOYED ON AN ELIGIBLE INTERNATIONAL OPERATION, AND IT WILL BE REPORTED USING THE 2017 T4/RL-1 SLIP FOR 2017 INCOME TAX FILING. FOR 2018 AND BEYOND IT WILL BE ACHIEVED THROUGH AT SOURCE RELIEF EFFECTIVE 1 JANUARY 2018

Ref D to the CANFORGEN is "INTERIM CDS/DM DIRECTIVE: CRITERIA FOR DETERMINING DEPLOYED INTERNATIONAL OPERATIONAL MISSIONS FOR 2017 DATED 10 NOV 2017"

I haven't seen the ref or list yet...something to look for tomorrow before closing time I guess.

 

[Eye In The Sky]

This is, according to what I'm hearing (nothing official yet) very similar to the engine/prop upgrade the CP-140 fleet is going to be getting.  Less fuel used/hr, longer ONSTA are the end results.

Article Link  [pics in article]

USAF Eyeing New Props and Upgraded Engines To Breathe Extra Life Into Old C-130Hs

The upgrades could expand the capabilities of the aging airlifters and save the service millions in maintenance and fuel costs

After nearly a decade of on-again-off-again testing, a one-of-a-kind C-130H Hercules airlifter from the Wyoming Air National Guard is on its way for an evaluation of its latest configuration, which includes upgraded engines and eight-bladed propellers with an advanced electronic control system. Refitting other H-model aircraft with the same modifications could potentially save the U.S. Air Force millions in operating costs, but it’s unclear when this might happen.

On Jan. 6, 2018, the C-130H from the Wyoming Air National Guard’s 153rd Airlift Wing, serial number 92-1536, arrived at the unit’s home at Cheyenne Regional Airport in the state’s capital. The aircraft would receive minor repairs before heading to Eglin Air Force Base in Florida for two years of tests, according a report from the Wyoming Tribute Eagle.

The most noticeable is the addition of eight-bladed Hamilton Sundstrand NP2000 propellers to each of the four turboprop engines. These are already standard on the U.S. Navy’s E-2 Hawkeye airborne early warning and control aircraft and C-2 Greyhound carrier on-board delivery (COD) planes.

The new propellers vibrate less and make less noise and the aircraft gains increased thrust at equivalent engine torque settings, in turn improving fuel efficiency. A built-in balancing system reduces the need for ground crews to balance the prop manually at regular intervals and fewer vibrations mean less stress on the aircraft as a whole, further reducing the need for maintenance. As an added bonus, the NP2000 is a modular design that takes up less storage space in warehouses or room inside any aircraft, ship, or vehicle delivering spares to established bases or deployed locations.

On top of that, the updated aircraft has an electronic propeller control system, or EPCS, that makes the units more responsive when the crew rapidly advances the throttle. This Air National Guard says this improves the overall reliability of the propellers by approximately 50 percent and removes a safety issue that had contributed to previous mishaps.

The latest addition to 92-1536 is four Rolls-Royce T-56 Series 3.5 turboprop engines that are more fuel efficient and reliable, saving an estimated $250,000 dollars every year on the cost to operate each aircraft, according to the manufacturer's website.

More at link

 

[Underway]

It's really in the title.

Everywhere I seem to end up,  I hear are good things about Canada's MPA (or is it LRP now?) community.  How good they are over land and sea .  That they are in high demand all over the world in places as diverse as Syria and the Pacific by our allies.

What makes them so good?  Is it the gear, the way we use the gear, the cockpit management, team management, training, people etc...  Maybe is that we never have enough surveillance assets in real time and scarcity makes them so valued.  A perfect mix of all above?

I have a few ideas but it never seems to materialize here on a thread just what's the special sauce that puts them head and shoulders it seems above all other MPA's.  Unless of course it's just good press and other MPA's do it just as good or better.

 

[Eye In The Sky]

Everywhere I seem to end up,  I hear are good things about Canada's MPA (or is it LRP now?) community.  How good they are over land and sea .  That they are in high demand all over the world in places as diverse as Syria and the Pacific by our allies.

My initial question back is...where are you hearing this?  From inside Canada only, or are you hearing it from other nations military members as well?

 

[tomahawk6]

Isnt an Aurora with RIMPAC ?

 

[Eye In The Sky]

Isnt an Aurora with RIMPAC ?

https://www.skiesmag.com/press-releases/canadian-armed-forces-set-to-participate-in-exercise-rimpac/

 

[Underway]

My initial question back is...where are you hearing this?  From inside Canada only, or are you hearing it from other nations military members as well?

Both.

 

[Eye In The Sky]

Everywhere I seem to end up,  I hear are good things about Canada's MPA (or is it LRP now?) community.  How good they are over land and sea .  That they are in high demand all over the world in places as diverse as Syria and the Pacific by our allies.

What makes them so good?  Is it the gear, the way we use the gear, the cockpit management, team management, training, people etc...  Maybe is that we never have enough surveillance assets in real time and scarcity makes them so valued.  A perfect mix of all above?

I think the combo of our updated Block III systems (info on Blocks 1 to 4 here, under 4. Implementation) are a part of our overall capabilities.  There is a considerable increase in the ability for all crewmembers to see/share information from Block II to Block III in how our workstations function/look.  Updated sensor capability - specifically with the Acoustics and RADAR, from Block II to Block III is significant.  Our ability to communicate is fairly significant and to share data/get data off the aircraft to ground pers has improved and will improve more with Block IV.

We have a pretty robust capability to train various missions in our simulator; I think this is pretty important actually.

I've never flown with another countries MPA crew or any P-3 crews, so I can't compare from experience how they do it, but I think we expect more from our new crew members (new being less than 2 years on Sqn) than what I've learned how the RAF and RAAF do things, at least for the sensor operators.  They don't just 'operator RADAR and ordinance' for 1 year once they are on crew.  This has benefits and drawbacks.

At the end of the day, I think it is a combo of fairly new sensors, motivated people, time-tested TTPs and tactics, the ability to adapt to new missions quickly, practice them in the simulator before flying them in the real world, and the training people receive on course and once on a crew that makes us good (if we are).  I'm just not sure how good we are against other nations MPAs and crews;  I have my (biased) opinion based on some exercise/non-exercise experiences.

I have a few ideas but it never seems to materialize here on a thread just what's the special sauce that puts them head and shoulders it seems above all other MPA's.  Unless of course it's just good press and other MPA's do it just as good or better.

I think some of it is also 'good press' too...OP IMPACT, IMO, may have over-stated the contribution to the MESF (can't really say much about the 'why I think that', but its based on 3 ROTOs experience...) that the Aurora provided in the overland roll.

Our reputation in the Maritime role is, IMO, reasonably earned.  We do well at TASW missions helping out our NATO allies, during deployments to OP CARIBBE , and other operations that require a long-legged ISR platform. 

In our SAR role, we are fairly limited on the Rescue part but we are particularly strong on the search part, particularly over water.  The sailboat race SAR that happened mid-atlantic the summer of 2017, it was really when the Aurora got on station that the situation was really understood and assets were moved to affect the rescues.  Not to take anything away from the Herc crews, but they don't have the ability to raise a surface plot/do the RMP piece like the Aurora can and the Aurora was able to see things that the Herc couldn't.

Our limitations also feed into our strengths, I believe.  We don't have a large fleet compared to the USN;  in terms of aircraft, Sqns or crews but the Aurora fleet is also very busy, inside and outside Canada.  This small community and high op tempo translates to a fairly good level of experience at any given time on a variety of mission types.  I think this is the limitation that translates into a strength when it really counts - crews that have the experience and/or the ingenuity and initiative to adapt and accomplish the mission.

My last thought - we do bring in Exchange officers from the RAF, RAAF, and USN.  My experience is they are all experienced aircrew, usually Skippers or Tactical Navigators and experienced NCM aircrew and we get to benefit from their experience as well.  This has been happening for decades as far as I know (they did it when my father was on the Argus back in the late 60s to '81).

That's more wordy than I hoped it would be, but hopefully it helps answer your question some. 

Are Canadian *VP* crews better, on par, or less skilled than other nations?  Sounds like a good question and a good reason to get Fincastle going again!

 

[dimsum]

Are Canadian *VP* crews better, on par, or less skilled than other nations?  Sounds like a good question and a good reason to get Fincastle going again!

Although the post-ex party will be pretty tame for the Canadian side.  2 drinks for everybody! 

 

[Eye In The Sky]

Or, just do like we did for DM...leave early and avoid the embarrassment. 

 

[Sub_Guy]

Although the post-ex party will be pretty tame for the Canadian side.  2 drinks for everybody!

There’s a waiver for that! 

 

[RDBZ]

New Zealand has just approved the purchase of 4 P-8.    https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/new-zealand/new-zealand-spend-2-3b-four-boeing-p-8-poseidon-aircraft-replace-orions

 

[SeaKingTacco]

New Zealand has just approved the purchase of 4 P-8.    https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/new-zealand/new-zealand-spend-2-3b-four-boeing-p-8-poseidon-aircraft-replace-orions

Maybe we can buy their used P3s....

 

[FSTO]

Maybe we can buy their used P3s....

Brilliant! Promote that man!!!!

 

[dimsum]

Maybe we can buy their used P3s....

They've used theirs since the 60s?  At least ours were the last bunch from 1980.  :