Welcome News - A New Maritime Helicopter

Colin Curleigh

12 Dec 96

The Address by the Minister of National Defence, the Honourable Douglas Young, to the Empire Club of Canada, 2 December, was a heartening statement for those concerned about the operational capability of Canada's Maritime Forces.

The Minister clearly acknowledged that we must retain multi-purpose, combat-capable forces to carry out the essential missions of defending Canada and contributing to international peace and security - missions particularly relevant to our Maritime Forces and involving them daily. He said he sees his current challenge as implementing a major downsizing of the Canadian Forces while continuing to invest in the long-term viability of the Forces during a period of extremely intense operational activity. He stressed that we must provide Canadians with the best value for their defence dollars, and do so by concentrating our resources on the "sharp end"; that is, on our operational forces. There is no "sharper end" than our Navy's Patrol Frigates and Tribal Destroyers deployed off our coasts and world-wide in the conduct of their national and international missions.

These sixteen new frigates and modernized destroyers are world leaders in operational capability and technological innovation, and could provide the Navy with the long-term viability that the Minister is striving for. However, not one of those modern ships will reach the long-term viability required until complemented with a proper high-tech Maritime Helicopter.

The Maritime Helicopter currently employed at sea in those ships is the 30 year old Sea King. This helicopter, its mission systems, and its logistic support system, in their present states, cannot adequately complement the requirements of the modern Navy. The time has clearly come to replace these helicopters, and the Minister declared that the government will do just that. This is welcome news. He further stated that we must choose a helicopter that is not only robust and capable, but also affordable. This paper will examine more closely those three key words: "robust"; "capable"; and, "affordable".

Why the Sea King No Longer Meets the Requirements

Before discussing the fundamental requirements of a new Maritime Helicopter, we should be clear why the Sea Kings are no longer capable of complementing effectively the Navy's modern ships. First, it is important to clarify some misconceptions about the Sea King and its current operations. The Sea King is not unsafe to fly. The Air Force does not allow a Sea King to fly unless it is airworthy, and it is not flown in an unsafe manner. The issue is that it is costing more and more in terms of time, money, and inability to meet operational requirements to keep the Sea King airworthy. The fact that the Sea King is basically 1950s technology compounds this challenge. So, while it is tempting to play on the current concern of the public and the media that the Sea King is no longer safe to fly, using such a fear-mongering approach would be deceitful and detrimental to the cause.

Another tempting approach would be to reinforce statements made by those who say that the Sea King is operationally useless. These statements are not only wrong, but are so misleading that if stressed officially could undermine the tremendous job the Sea King is doing at sea around the world under difficult conditions through the efforts of our dedicated technicians and aircrew. To be sure, there is much that could be done to enhance the Sea King's operational capability, and there is even more that could be accomplished with a proper replacement helicopter; but, to say that the Sea King is useless is just not true. It has limited operational capabilities that are becoming even more limited in light of changing circumstances, and these limitations must be highlighted so that proper remedial action in the form of a new helicopter can be taken.

It is also tempting to declare a "drop dead" date for the Sea King, but the reality is that it can be kept going to the year 2005 and even beyond by costly repair and replacement of crucial components and parts. The issue is once again cost, the unnecessarily great and increasing cost of continuing to fly this less than operationally satisfactory helicopter.

So, while it may be appealing to make sensational declarations that the Sea King is unsafe, that it is operationally useless, and that it has reached the end of its life, the facts prove otherwise. Playing any or all of these cards will be counter-productive, diminishing our credibility and demoralizing those who maintain, support and operate the Sea King ashore and at sea. The two critical concerns are that the Sea Kings can no longer perform the duties required of them, and in these times of fiscal restraint that we can no longer afford the increasing costs of keeping these old helicopters flying safely.

Why the Sea King Must Be Replaced

The main reasons why the Sea King must be replaced are:

The Sea King is costly to operate, with diminishing returns on growing expenditures. Money and time is being wasted maintaining and repairing this old helicopter with its 1950s technology, and these costs are escalating yearly.
The Sea King does not have the serviceability required of a major component of the Navy's ships and Task Groups. This translates into a serious unreliability factor of a system for which the ship must depend.
It is becoming increasingly difficult to maintain what inadequate reliability it does have.
The Sea King has only a limited operational capability, while the demands at sea are changing and increasing.
Sea Kings do not complement the highly capable and modern ships they are supposed to support. Not only does the Sea King not have the reliability and the operational capability demanded at sea today, but from their inception the ships were designed with the requirement for a modern helicopter to extend their capabilities and to convey an air capability for the Task Groups.

A New Maritime Helicopter - the Fundamental Requirements

So what are the fundamental requirements of the new Maritime Helicopter? In stark terms, it must be robust, reliable, multi-purpose, and capable of operating from our ships. The right number of helicopters is also critical. The need for reliability at sea is clear, and the required operational capability has been discussed at length. The term robustness may not be as clear, but it has special significance in the context of the new Maritime Helicopter. It is stressed to indicate that just any helicopter will not do for this demanding role. Robustness essentially means that the new shipborne helicopter must be capable of operating reliably from a relatively small ship in the most rigorous conditions. Operating and supporting a Maritime Helicopter from a frigate in the North Atlantic remains one of today's greatest flying challenges.

The mission equipment to be installed is an important and complementary issue that will be examined in another paper. However, it is important to note that with the right helicopter, the mission systems installed can give a wide range of multi-purpose capability. As a minimum, capable communication, navigation and radar systems are essential.

If pushed for a brief description of the key requirements of the new helicopter, two should be emphasized: size and reliability.

Sufficient size is needed to provide:

appropriate range and endurance
adequate space for mission systems and tactical crew
flexibility in order to perform multi-purpose roles
room for passengers, cargo, and rescued people
growth potential

Reliability is achieved by:

total helicopter and systems robustness
high levels of both overall and component serviceability
an effective support organization
ease of maintenance and repair

Crucial is a proper support system which includes sufficient trained technicians, spare parts, test equipment, tools, and repair facilities needed to ensure the required reliability. This support system, along with adequate training facilities, and a properly conducted introduction program, are all essential to the Air Force's Maritime Helicopter Project.

The New Maritime Helicopter - the Procurement Program

What is obviously needed is an open and competitive procurement program that is allowed to run its full course. It will provide the right number of the right Maritime Helicopters equipped with the necessary mission systems, and sustained with proper logistic, training, and personnel support.

The real challenge will be to generate a helicopter program that is affordable. This is a complex issue and will be the subject of another paper. However, at this point it should be clear that with a well-considered procurement strategy, and the political will to reduce those high costs that add no value overall which are normally associated with such large projects, the government can fulfil its promise and at the same time get maximum value for the taxpayer's defence dollar.

An innovative procurement strategy, and a commitment by the government to eliminate those non-value-added costs which are under its control, could provide the Navy with the right number of robust, capable and affordable Maritime Helicopters required to complement its modern ships.

The Maritime Helicopter Project is under way. Let's help the government to keep it moving in the right direction.