A joint statement from Commanders of the Royal Canadian Navy and Royal Canadian Air Force on the crash of a CH-148 Cyclone helicopter Lieutenant-General Al Meinzinger, Commander of the Royal Canadian Air Force, and Vice-Admiral Art McDonald, Commander of the Royal Canadian Navy, issued the following statement: “Our hearts are […]
CH-148 Cyclone helicopters
12 posts
On 22 December, Michael Tutton of the Canadian Press filed a report on difficulties experienced with the HELRAS tethered sonar installation on the ‘Block 1’ Cyclone helicopters.[1] Apparently, there is a potential for a ‘trap strike’ between the sonar projector and the C-RAST, which is a new model of the […]
Canadians need to be clear-eyed that if we want to have a modern, rightly equipped, capable Canadian Armed Forces, our geostrategic position practically dictates that we pay more for equipment to meet our unique operational requirements. This is why purchasing “off-the-shelf” (OTS) military equipment is so problematic. OTS refers to […]
Residents of Halifax are sighting the Sikorsky H-92 Cylcone in flight over the Shearwater airfield and in the local area. I saw the first one last Saturday, but other residents are reporting that they have been active around the airfield for the last three weeks. The Cyclone has a distinctly […]
Friday’s news carried a couple of stories that speculated on whether or not the Sikorsky H-92 ‘Cyclone’ helicopter deal will be cancelled. CBCNews ran a story, entitled ‘Other options’ sought for Sea King Helicopter replacements, that quoted Public Works spokesperson Amber Irwin as saying, “the government is considering other options […]
Recently, the Halifax Chronicle-Herald has carried four items relating to the CH-124 Sea King and the CH-148 Cyclone. The first was “Sea Kings’ 50th birthday still a point of pride” by Marilla Stephenson (19 July), the next was an editorial, “A question of safety for Sea Kings” (26 July) which […]
There is an article in the press that suggest completely different views on when the first operational H-92 ‘Cyclone’ helicopter (CH-148 in Canadian military terms) will be delivered to the Canadian Forces by Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation. Greg Weston’s article for CBC News is entitled ominously “New helicopters may not be […]
There are now two new Sikorsky CH-148 ‘Cyclone’ maritime helicopters at Shearwater. (You can read more about the Maritime Helicopter Project here.) The first arrived in May and a number (which varies depending on the source) of ‘interim’ aircraft will follow soon. The ‘final configuration’ aircraft are supposed to begin […]
The ‘Strategic and Operating Review’ underway in the Department of National Defence is primarily a cost-cutting exercise. A message sent to DND and CF members on Friday, 5 August, under the signatures of Deputy Minister Fonberg and Chief of Defence Natynczyk, outlines two potential outcomes: reductions to meet at least […]
Amid all of the discussions and commentaries about the defence policy announcement, something has been overlooked. Neither in the speeches nor in the Backgrounders was there any mention of the CH-148 Cyclone helicopters (known in the U.S. as the H-92 Superhawk). While all other equipment programmes, both actual and intended, […]