Canada seeks refurbished U.S. army helicopters for use in Afghanistan
LONDON - Canada's Defence Department has approached the Pentagon about obtaining as many as six refurbished U.S. army battlefield helicopters for use in Afghanistan, defence sources tell The Canadian Press.
The request for information was made as part of a worldwide search for medium-lift transport to get Canadian soldiers off the dangerous highways and biways of Kandahar.
Almost two years ago, Canada's air force was offered, but turned down access to used Chinooks under a program called Cargo Helicopter Alternate Procurement Strategy, or CHAPS.
With the Manley commission laying down helicopters as a requirement for extending Canada's mission, defence officials are scrambling to fill the order.
The helicopters said to be under consideration are 'D' model CH-47 Chinooks, a slightly older variety of the 'F' model Canada's air force hopes to buy, said a NATO source.
The aircraft would be refurbished by Boeing and would be available for delivery well within the one-year time frame set out by the independent commission.
"There's not a lot of time, but its doable," said a defence source.
The aircraft come with few frills, but would contain at a minimum a defence suite of machine-guns, flares and chafe to protect against ground-based attack.
The cost is said to be $15 million per aircraft - or less than half of the pricetag of a new one. A brand new Chinook can go for up to $40 million in some cases.
Canadian pilots have already been training on CH-47s in the U.S. and Australia in anticipation of the Tory government's long-promised $4.7 billion purchase of 16 brand new Chinooks.
That could help speed the introduction of the refurbished ones, said the NATO source, who asked not to be named.
The potential purchase was apparently discussed among Canadian and American officials at last week's informal meeting of NATO defence ministers in Vilinius, Lithuania.
At the same time Defence Minister Peter MacKay kept up pressure on the Americans to allow Canada to slip ahead of the U.S. military in Boeing production line orders for the few 'F' model Chinook.
Officials were expected to plead their case with U.S. Defence Secretary Robert Gates. Canada has been asking since late 2006 such consideration, but has repeatedly been turned down.
A spokesman for MacKay confirmed this weekend that Canada has asked to skip ahead in the production line, but Dan Dugas could not provide any details about the refurbished helicopter proposal. He conceded other options were being studied.
Poland had offered to make available two of its Mi-17 transport helicopters for NATO allies in Kandahar, including Canada.
MacKay had follow-up discussions with Poland's defence minister about timing and availability of those aircraft.
"More importantly though, we're pursuing our own means to procure helicopters and I'll have something more to say about that in the very near future," he said leaving Vilnius on Friday.
In June 2006, the Conservative government announced it was going to buy 16 heavy-lift helicopters and within weeks said Boeing was the company best-suited to meet the requirements.
Full story
http://canadianpress.google.com/article/ALeqM5jwf8m41Tu38Dd_KGsNwHGwXaSGjw
LONDON - Canada's Defence Department has approached the Pentagon about obtaining as many as six refurbished U.S. army battlefield helicopters for use in Afghanistan, defence sources tell The Canadian Press.
The request for information was made as part of a worldwide search for medium-lift transport to get Canadian soldiers off the dangerous highways and biways of Kandahar.
Almost two years ago, Canada's air force was offered, but turned down access to used Chinooks under a program called Cargo Helicopter Alternate Procurement Strategy, or CHAPS.
With the Manley commission laying down helicopters as a requirement for extending Canada's mission, defence officials are scrambling to fill the order.
The helicopters said to be under consideration are 'D' model CH-47 Chinooks, a slightly older variety of the 'F' model Canada's air force hopes to buy, said a NATO source.
The aircraft would be refurbished by Boeing and would be available for delivery well within the one-year time frame set out by the independent commission.
"There's not a lot of time, but its doable," said a defence source.
The aircraft come with few frills, but would contain at a minimum a defence suite of machine-guns, flares and chafe to protect against ground-based attack.
The cost is said to be $15 million per aircraft - or less than half of the pricetag of a new one. A brand new Chinook can go for up to $40 million in some cases.
Canadian pilots have already been training on CH-47s in the U.S. and Australia in anticipation of the Tory government's long-promised $4.7 billion purchase of 16 brand new Chinooks.
That could help speed the introduction of the refurbished ones, said the NATO source, who asked not to be named.
The potential purchase was apparently discussed among Canadian and American officials at last week's informal meeting of NATO defence ministers in Vilinius, Lithuania.
At the same time Defence Minister Peter MacKay kept up pressure on the Americans to allow Canada to slip ahead of the U.S. military in Boeing production line orders for the few 'F' model Chinook.
Officials were expected to plead their case with U.S. Defence Secretary Robert Gates. Canada has been asking since late 2006 such consideration, but has repeatedly been turned down.
A spokesman for MacKay confirmed this weekend that Canada has asked to skip ahead in the production line, but Dan Dugas could not provide any details about the refurbished helicopter proposal. He conceded other options were being studied.
Poland had offered to make available two of its Mi-17 transport helicopters for NATO allies in Kandahar, including Canada.
MacKay had follow-up discussions with Poland's defence minister about timing and availability of those aircraft.
"More importantly though, we're pursuing our own means to procure helicopters and I'll have something more to say about that in the very near future," he said leaving Vilnius on Friday.
In June 2006, the Conservative government announced it was going to buy 16 heavy-lift helicopters and within weeks said Boeing was the company best-suited to meet the requirements.
Full story
http://canadianpress.google.com/article/ALeqM5jwf8m41Tu38Dd_KGsNwHGwXaSGjw
