Wed, Jan 30, 2008
Will Bring Maritime Patrol/SAR Fleet To Five
Aero-News learned this week Field Aviation of Toronto was
recently awarded a contract to convert two additional Bombardier/de
Havilland Dash 8-300 turboprops as Maritime Patrol (MPA)/Search and
Rescue (SAR) platforms for the Japan Coast Guard. This follows an
initial contract for three Japanese Dash 8-300 MPAs signed in
January 2007, and currently under completion.
Sojitz Corporation of Japan is the prime contractor to the Japan
Coast Guard for the project. The two Q300s will be acquired from
Bombardier Aerospace, including Field Aviation's modifications. The
aircraft will be modified by Field Aviation at its Toronto
modification center and will feature a missionized interior, large
conformal observation windows and a unique, Field-developed and
certified air-drop capability through the inflight-operable rear
cargo door.
Surveillance sensors employing the latest technology will be
installed, including a 360° surface search radar, a stabilized
FLIR electro-optical multi-spectral imaging payload, as well as a
new suite of modern mission navigation communications systems. The
aircraft modifications, valued at $US13 million, will commence in
January, 2009, and both aircraft will be delivered by November
2009.
Japan’s new aircraft will
operate as the next-generation fixed-wing turboprop for maritime
patrol and search and rescue duty within Japan’s area of
maritime responsibility.
The Dash 8 was first modified for the Maritime Patrol role by
Field in 1995, when three aircraft were delivered to Surveillance
Australia which provides airborne surveillance of the Australian
Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), under the country’s COASTWATCH
program. Two additional Dash 8 MPAs were delivered to Australia in
2000, and Field is currently modifying additional aircraft that
have seen the Surveillance Australia fleet grow to 10 Dash 8s by
the end of 2007.
Other customers for Field’s Dash 8 MPA/ SAR Aircraft
modifications include US Customs and Border Protection, where the
first of a fleet of Series 200 MPAs entered service in 2005, as
well as the Swedish Coast Guard and the Iceland Coast Guard..
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