U.S. helicopters to be stripped for parts
First upgraded model expected in 2022
A fleet of U.S. presidential helicopters bought by Canada seven years ago will be stripped down for parts by the Canadian military to keep its search and rescue choppers flying.
The Royal Canadian Air Force had studied the option of adding the seven helicopters, which are airworthy, to the current CH-149 Cormorant search and rescue fleet. The air force was told by the aerospace industry that modifications could be made to the American presidential fleet, aircraft from the same family of helicopters as the Cormorants, so they could be added to the flight line.
But that plan was shelved and last month the Liberal government announced that Canada would modernize the 14 existing CH-149 Cormorant helicopters and acquire at least two more such aircraft.
That decision means that the U.S. VH-71 presidential helicopters, bought by Canada in 2012 and put in storage, won’t fly in Canadian military colours. Instead, they will be stripped down for parts, although some of those systems could form a significant portion in the CH-149 modernization program.
“As the VH-71 and CH-149 are from the same family of helicopters, the VH-71 assets will be used as sources of parts for the upgraded and expanded CH-149 helicopter fleet,” Department of National Defence spokesman Andrew McKelvey stated in an email. “The utilization of V-71 parts will save money on the cost of the upgrade.”
Canada purchased the nine new VH-71 presidential helicopters and more than 800,000 spare parts in 2012 after U.S. President Barack Obama shut down the multi-billion dollar program and decided that existing aircraft were good enough for his needs. Seven of the helicopters included in the $168 million deal were airworthy.
For years, the Department of National Defence insisted that the presidential helicopters would never be used as actual aircraft. But some officers inside the Royal Canadian Air Force argued that since the $3 billion helicopters could be flown, it didn’t make sense to strip them down for parts. In addition, the helicopters were brand new, with less than 100 hours each of flight time.
The option of flying the presidential helicopters as search and rescue aircraft was eventually considered an option.
But on Aug. 22 Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan announced that the government would proceed with modernizing the existing Cormorant fleet and adding at least two additional Cormorant helicopters to the fleet. That project is valued at almost $1.4 billion, according to the Department of National Defence.
A contract for the modernization project should be signed next year with Leonardo, the Italian aerospace firm whose subsidiary builds the Cormorant. The project will see the CH-149s upgraded to a design recently bought by Norway for its search and rescue missions.
The delivery of the first upgraded Cormorant is expected in 2022, according to the Department of National Defence.