A Hercules aircraft from Winnipeg prepares to drop bundles during a rescue training event in 2004.(Courtesy DND Combat Camera/ WO Peter Veldhuizen)
There are three primary aircraft used in search and rescue by the Canadian air force.
Hercules
The Canadian Forces has been using the Lockheed Martin C-130 Hercules since 1960. The “Herc” is one of the world's most versatile military and transport aircraft. It is designed to work with short, often temporary or poorly maintained runways. The aircraft is known for its relatively high speed and has been used in search operations, for carrying emergency equipment and supplies, and carrying search and rescue technicians so they can be dropped into remote locations.
| Aircraft Description | The Lockheed-Martin C-130 Hercules tactical transport is arguably the most successful military transport aircraft program in the history of aviation. With its rear cargo ramp, rugged landing gear, good short-field performance and high ground clearance for engines/propellers, the C-130 was designed from day one to operate if necessary from unimproved airstrips in an active theatre of operations. |
| Length | 29.3 m (97.8 ft) |
| Wingspan | 39.7 m (132.5 ft) |
| Height | 11.4 m (38.3 ft) |
| Weight | Cargo: 16,330 kg (36,000 lbs) Takeoff: 69,750 kg (155,000 lbs) |
| Power | Four Allison T-56-A-7/15 engines |
| Speed | 602 km/hr at 6,060 m (20,000 ft) |
| Ceiling | 10,000 m (33,000 ft) |
| Range | Maximum payload: 3,790 km (2,049 nautical miles) Empty: 8,368 km (4,522 nautical miles) |
| Load | 17,320 kg or 92 passengers |
| Crew | 7 (SAR) or 2 pilots, 1 navigator, 1 flight engineer, and 1 loadmaster (Transport) |
| Troops | up to 90 |
| Paratroops | 64 |
| Litters | 74 plus two attendants |
| Year(s) procured | 1960 to 1991 |
| Quantity in CF | 32 |
| Location(s) | 14 Wing Greenwood, NS 8 Wing Trenton, ON 17 Wing, Winnipeg, MB |
| Courtesy DND | |
Buffalo (Courtesy DND)
Buffalo
The CC-115 Buffalo is the mainstay of air force search and rescue operations on Canada's West Coast. The Buffalo is an all-weather aircraft designed to operate in the mountainous region. It is a short take off and landing aircraft (STOL) capable of landing on rough or improvised airstrips, but it also has the range to patrol 1,200 km out into the Pacific Ocean.
| Length | 24 m |
| Wingspan | 29.25 m |
| Height | 8.53 m |
| Weight | 20,454 kg |
| Power | Two 3,060 hp General Electric CT64-820-3 turbine engines |
| Speed | 416 km/h |
| Range | 2,240 km |
| Load | 2,727 kg - capable of carrying vehicles and machinery or 41 fully equipped soldiers |
| Equipment | rear-loading door, adjustable ramp |
| Crew | 6 (SAR) or 4 (Transport) |
| Year(s) procured | 1967 |
| Quantity in CF | 6 |
| Location(s) | 19 Wing Comox, B.C. |
| Courtesy DND | |
A Cormorant helicopter flies over an Albatross patrol boat during a training exercise off the coast of British Columbia.(Courtesy DND/MCpl Rebecca Bell)
Cormorant
The CH0149 Cormorant helicopter is the latest addition to Canada's search and rescue air fleet, caught up in the long political battle to replace Canada's older helicopters, the search and rescue Labrador and the navy's Sea King.
The Cormorant has three powerful long-range engines, essential for ocean rescues, and a watertight hull that lets it land on water. The helicopter has powerful hoists, two for rescues and a third, a 4,500-kg cargo hook. A sophisticated ice protection system lets it operate in the Arctic and in other winter situations where there is a danger of continuous icing. The Cormorant also handles well in the face of high winds. It's a big chopper with a large storage capacity – it can carry either 12 loaded stretchers or 5,000 kg of cargo or equipment.
In mid-October 2005, the 424 Search and Rescue Squadron in Trenton, Ont., stopped using the Cormorants because of persistent problems with the aircrafts' tail rotor assembly. The squadron temporarily replaced the Cormorants with the older and less powerful Griffon helicopters.
| Length | 22.8 m |
| Rotorspan | 18.5m |
| Height | 6.5 m |
| Weight | 14 600 kg (maximum take-off) |
| Power | Three General Electric T700-T6A1 turbines |
| Speed | 278 km/hr |
| Range | 1,018 km |
| Equipment | Two 273 kg rescue hoists, 4536 kg cargo hook and frame, storage racks for SAR equipment and 12 stretchers |
| Year(s) procured | 2001 to 2003 |
| Quantity in CF | 15 |
| Location(s) | 9 Wing Gander, Nfld. 8 Wing Trenton, Ont. 19 Wing Comox, B.C. 14 Wing Greenwood, N.S. |
| Courtesy DND | |
Other aircraft used in search and rescue in Canada include the CP-140 long range Aurora patrol aircraft, which can fly 9,000 km without refuelling. The Aurora was originally designed for anti-submarine warfare and its sophisticated sensors often come in handy if it's assigned to search and rescue.
| Aircraft Description | The CP-140 Aurora is a Canadianized version of the U.S. Navy's turboprop-powered Lockheed P-3 "Orion" long-range land-based maritime patrol aircraft, but with an enhanced ASW electronics suite that has more in common with that of the jet-engined S-3 "Viking" carrier-based ASW patrol aircraft also operated by the U.S. Navy. |
| Length | 35.61 m (116.8 ft) |
| Wingspan | 30.37 m (99.6 ft) |
| Height | 10.30 m (33.8 ft) |
| Empty Weight | 27,892 kg (61,491 lbs) |
| Maximum Gross Weight | 64,410 kg (142,000 lbs) |
| Power | 4 Alison T-56-A-14-LFE turboprop engines |
| Maximum Speed | 750 km/h (405 kts) |
| Cruising Speed | 648 km/h (350 kts) |
| Service Ceiling | 10,668 m (35,000 ft) |
| Range | 9,266 km (5,000nm) |
| Surveillance Equipment | radar, sonobuoys, forward-looking Infra-red camera (FLIR), magnetic anomaly detector, electronic support measures, fixed 70mm camera, hand-held camera, night vision goggles, gyrostabilized binoculars |
| Weapons System | Mk. 46 Mod. V anti-submarine torpedoes; signal chargers; smoke markers; illumination flares. (Can also potentially be retrofitted to carry anti-shipping air-to-surface missiles.) |
| Other Equipment | two "Sea Survival Kit – Air-Droppable" (SKAD) units |
| Crew | 2 pilots, 1 flight engineer, 4 navigators, 3 airborne electronic sensor operators (AESOPs) (crew size will vary according to mission) |
| Year(s) procured | 1980 |
| Quantity in CF | 18 |
| Location(s) | 19 Wing Comox, British Columbia (5) 14 Wing Greenwood, Nova Scotia (13) |
| Courtesy DND | |
The CH-146 Griffon is a military helicopter that has a forward-looking infrared radar (FLIR), which can be used to detect the warmth of a human body for either rescue or military missions. It was used for transport, reconnaissance and rescue during the Saguenay and Winnipeg floods, the Quebec ice storm and international relief operations in Honduras and Haiti.
| Length | 17.1 m |
| Rotor span | 14 m |
| Height | 4.6 m |
| Weight | 5, 355kg |
| Power | Pratt & Whitney's PT6T-3D engine |
| Speed | 220 km/h (cruise) up to 260 km/h (maximum speed) |
| Range | 656 km |
| Passengers | 10 (including crew) |
| Crew | Two pilots, one flight engineer |
| Year(s) procured | 1995 to 1997 |
| Quantity in CF | 86 |
| Location(s) | - 400 Tactical Helicopter Squadron (THS), Borden, Ont: 6 - 403 Helicopter and Operational Training Squadron (HOTS), Gagetown, N.B.: 13 x CH-146; - 408 THS, Edmonton, Alta.: 13 - 427 THS, Petawawa, Ont.: 15 - 430e Escadron tactique d'hélicoptères (ETAH), Valcartier, Que.: 11 - 438e ETAH, St. Hubert, Que.: 6 - 417 Combat Support Squadron (CSS), Cold Lake, Alta.: 3 - 439e Escadron de soutien au combat, Bagotville, Que.: 3 - 444 CSS, Goose Bay, Lab.: 3 - AETE, Cold Lake, Alta.: 2 x CH-146 |
| Total Number of Griffons: 74 in 1 Wing, and 12 in the rest of Canada. Two have been destroyed in crashes in Labrador (1996 and 2002). | |
| Courtesy DND | |
Other aircraft
