16 http://www.airforcesmonthly.com
NEWS North America
// APRIL 2018 #Canada
reveals
future fi ghter
contenders
CANADA HAS released
a list of eligible suppliers
that will be invited to
submit proposals under
the competition to replace
the Royal Canadian Air
Force’s (RCAF’s) fighter
fleet with 88 new aircraft.
The February 22 statement
from Canada’s Public
Works and Government
Services listed the following
potential suppliers: the
French government/Dassault
Aviation (Rafale), the US
government/Lockheed Martin
(F-35A), the US government/
Boeing (F/A-18E/F), the
Swedish government/Saab
(Gripen E/F) and the UK
government/Airbus Defence
and Space (Typhoon).
The inclusion of Boeing
was surprising, in light
of the dispute between
the US company and
Bombardier, which it
has accused of price-
dumping. In December,
Canada scrapped plans
for an interim purchase
of 18 Super Hornets
after the US Commerce
Department threatened
to impose a 300% import
tariff on Bombardier
airliners (see Canadian
Super Hornet buy in doubt,
November 2017, p18).
The competition was
launched last December
in Ottawa and will invite
eligible suppliers to submit
proposals in spring next
year. Proposals will be
assessed on cost, technical
requirements and economic
benefits. A contract
award is anticipated in
2021 or 2022, with the
first aircraft expected to
be delivered in 2025.Canada
returns to
NATO AWACS
programme
CANADA HAS reversed
its decision to withdraw
from the NATO Airborne
Warning and Control
System (AWACS). It left
the programme in 2011
after a recommendation
in the Department of
National Defence’s (DND’s)
2010 Strategic Review. A
statement from the DND
said: “Programmes such
as AWACS, and the joint
intelligence, surveillance
and reconnaissance it
provides, are increasingly
relevant in today’s security
environment. In response
to the challenges posed
by that environment,
NATO has significantly
increased the use of
its AWACS operations,
including in areas like
central and Eastern
Europe where Canada is
leading a multinational
NATO battlegroup
based in Latvia.”US Army Apaches fi res JAGM
THE US Army has begun
testing the Joint-Air-to-
Ground Missile (JAGM)
on the AH-64D/E attack
helicopter. A first
successful flight test of the
weapon was previously
completed at Naval Air
Station Patuxent River,
Maryland on December
5 last year (see JAGM
missiles tested on
AH-1Z, March, p15).
The latest trials at Yuma
Proving Ground, Arizona
were a collaborative effort
involving the Aviation Test
Directorate (AVTD) of the
US Army Operational
Test Command, based at
West Fort Hood, Texas,
the Yuma Test Center,
and the Redstone Test
Center based at Redstone
Arsenal, Alabama.
“We’re out here shooting
at real targets,” said
Scott McLendon, AVTD
Operational Test Officer
for JAGM. “It’s a real T-
driving down the road,
not a burnt-out hulk with
a million holes in it sitting
out on the range.” YumaProving Ground personnel
installed remote-control
kits on four separate target
vehicles, allowing pilots
to fly scenarios wherethey engaged multiple
moving targets at once.
Although operational
trials are now complete,
further developmentaltesting, including
integrating new software
to support the JAGM
into the Apache, will
continue at Yuma.Above: An AH-64 fi res a JAGM at Cibola Range, Yuma Proving Ground, during a test mission
against armoured ground vehicle targets. US Army/Tad BrowningAbove: The RCAF’s newest
fi ghter unit, 401 Tactical
Fighter Squadron at 4 Wing,
CFB Cold Lake, Alberta, has
painted CF-188 188731 in
commemorative colours to
celebrate its heritage, which
dates back to the Battle of
Britain. Andrew H ClineTHE LOUISIANA Air
National Guard’s (ANG’s)
159th Fighter Wing has
flown an F-15C fitted with
new conformal fuel tanks
(CFTs). The two-hour first
flight took place on the
last day of January, over
the Gulf of Mexico. The
F-15C CFT upgrade is
being pursued via the NATO
Support and Procurement
Agency and the tanks are
being produced by Israel
Aerospace Industries (IAI) as
a subcontractor to Boeing.
The 159th FW is the first
unit to receive the tanks
for testing and evaluation
as part of the F-
Persistent Air Dominance
Enabler programme.ANG fl ies CFT-equipped F-15C