Maritime Surveillance Aircraft Goes To The Icelandic Coast
Guard
In a formal ceremony held at its Toronto Pearson airport
facilities Monday, Field Aviation delivered a highly modified Dash
8 Q300 Maritime Surveillance aircraft to the Icelandic Coast
Guard. The event, which attracted more than 150 invited
guests, included Iceland's Ambassador to Canada, Her Excellency Ms.
Sigridur Anna Thordardottir and Georg Larusson, director general of
the Icelandic Coast Guard.
Field Aviation, the prime contractor and integrator on the
Icelandic Coast Guard project valued at more than $30 million,
partnered with Bombardier Aerospace, which supplied the basic Dash
8 Q300 aircraft, and L-3 Communications, which supplied the sensor
systems.
The Icelandic Dash 8 Q300 is equipped with long range fuel and
an auxiliary power unit, enabling it to perform missions of over 8
hours endurance. Field Aviation outfitted the aircraft with
Maritime Search Radar, Side Looking Airborne Radar (SLAR) and an
Electro-Optical /Infra-Red pod (FLIR). All sensors feed into
an integrated data handling system supplied by L-3
Communications.
Field integrated the surveillance systems into the aircraft and
designed, built and installed a new cabin interior. Field
also designed and had approved an in-flight operable door, which
allows crews to deploy location flares, paradrop personnel, oil
sampling buoys and larger items such as inflatable rafts.
The Icelandic Dash 8 Q300 MSA has multi-mission capability,
including search and rescue, maritime sovereignty, medevac and
first response activities. Its current configuration will
produce shorter transit times and more on-station capability in
replacing the Icelandic Coast Guard's current maritime
aircraft. This will allow the Coast Guard to increase both
environmental and fisheries surveillance, as well as to perform
customs duties and border protection. The large cabin interior,
coupled with the Q300's proprietary active noise and vibration
system will provide a comfortable, state-of-the-art working
environment for the crews on board.
The Icelandic Coast Guard MSA has a configuration based on the
Field Aviation modified Dash 8 Q300 MSA's for the Swedish Coast
Guard, which were delivered in 2008. The similarity of type
and equipment will provide operational, maintenance, training and
support synergies for both countries.
"Growing airborne surveillance requirements to protect our
fisheries interests and to fight environmental pollution with a
more suitable aircraft platform for the coming decades have made
this replacement a necessity" said director general Larusson. "We
are very impressed by the work that Field Aviation did for the
Swedish Coast Guard MSAs, and this gave us confidence in trusting
them to supply us with an MSA that would exceed our mission
requirements".