Naval Air: <b>February 19, 2005</b>

February 19, 2005

A shortage of mission capable CP-140 Aurora aircraft has forced Canada to cut current international anti-terrorism air surveillance missions after January, 2005. Two participating Auroras and their crews deployed only in October -- will leave Operation Sirius by the end of December. Sirius is Canadas part of the NATO Exercise Active Endeavor. Since early October, two Maritime patrol CP-140 Aurora aircraft, crews and support personnel from 407 Squadron, Comox, 405 and 415 Maritime Patrol Squadrons and 14 Air Maintenance Squadron Greenwood, have been patrolling the Mediterranean from US Naval Air Station Sigonella, Sicily.

As a result of the aircraft being modernized in Canada, the length of the deployment was basically dictated by the fact that the aircraft will be required to go into the shop and that this was an opportunity to give the crews some rest until enough planes have been upgraded.

The Canadian Army is in the midst of an 18-month break from major missions abroad, while the Canadian Navy has just concluded a high-profile disaster when one of its newest submarines leased from the UK -- caught fire on its way from England to Canada and had to be rescued by a US Navy vessel after several crew were injured and one officer died.

Canadas fleet eighteen CP-140 Auroras were purchased beginning in 1980 to replace Canadas Argus airplanes. The CP-140 Aurora is a P-3 airframe that incorporates elements of both the P-3C Orion and the S-3A Viking. The aircraft's tactical systems are primarily intended for ASW work but are also capable of maritime surveillance, counter-drug, search and search-and-rescue, and ocean border patrol missions. Three CP-140s the Arcturus variant -- with significantly different mission avionics were acquired in the early 1990s for non-ASW roles. As a group, the CP-140s are aging more quickly and less gracefully than planned, mirroring the problems the US Navy is having in keeping its P-3s flying until the Multimission Maritime Aircraft begins joining the fleet in 2012-2014. In the past year and a half the US Navy has been forced to ground 40 percent of what had been its P-3 fleet because of airframe deterioration. Aside from the two CP-140s now in Italy, the rest of Canadas Auroras patrol Canadas vast coastline.

A Canadian Ministry of Defence spokesman said the military is modernizing the Aurora fleet in stages to ensure some planes can still patrol Canadian coasts. No end date for the modernization effort has been announced. K.B. Sherman