DefenseNews:
Canada Considers Armed Escort Choppers
The Canadian Air Force may buy an armed escort helicopter or outfit its existing Griffon utility helicopters with sensors and weapons to protect the new Chinooks the service will soon acquire. The Interim Battlefield Reconnaissance Utility Helicopter (IBRUH) would be designed to escort the Chinooks, which the Air Force sees as a critical asset.
The IBRUH project is “really in the development stage right now,” said Air Force Maj. Martin Leblanc, who as a tactical helicopter specialist has worked on the IBRUH concept.
Air Force leaders support the concept. The service’s former commander, Lt. Gen. Steve Lucas, in the last few months has spoken in favor of what he called an armed reconnaissance helicopter. Lucas retired at the end of July, but the IBRUH concept continues to be developed. Leblanc said no funding has been assigned to IBRUH and acquisition of such a capability would be tied to the delivery of the Chinooks. The cost of IBRUH would be based on what option — either a new aircraft or modernized existing helicopter — is decided upon.
Canada is spending 4.7 billion Canadian dollars ($4.4 billion) to acquire 16 Chinook troop-transport helicopters from Boeing. Negotiations are ongoing. Military officials hope the first Chinooks will arrive in 2011, although the Defence Department is trying to arrange for a faster delivery. Work on the Chinook acquisition, known in the Air Force as the Medium-to-Heavy Lift Helicopter, is more advanced than IBRUH, a situation that could limit some options for an armed escort helicopter, Leblanc said. “IBRUH is going to be playing a catch-up game to make sure it is fielded in time,” he said.
Among the options to be considered is the acquisition of a new helicopter as well as the modernization of the existing CH-146 Griffon helicopter to accept sensors and a weapon system. Cost and a delivery schedule that coincides with the arrival of the Chinooks are the two main determining factors, Leblanc said. “The costing depends on the options analysis; what’s the sensor package that you will acquire, what’s the armaments package you’re going to acquire,” he explained. “There’s a lot of variables there.”
Canada intends to use its Chinooks in a more combat-oriented role, ferrying troops, equipment and ammunition to front-line positions. Because of that, Air Force planners emphasize the importance of a helicopter protective escort. Leblanc said the ideal scenario would be for the helicopter escort to pass information to the Chinooks so they could avoid a threat area. If that is not an option, then the IBRUH could use its weapons to eliminate the threat.
Leblanc emphasized that Canada is looking at IBRUH as an armed helicopter to protect the Chinooks, not as an attack helicopter.
The Air Force has already done research on arming its existing Griffon helicopters, a version of the Bell 412 aircraft. In 2002, an Air Force report, “The Armed Griffon Concept,” concluded that outfitting the helicopter with sensors and weapons would effectively bolster aerial firepower. Weapons that could be fielded on the Griffon include missiles such as Hellfire or the installation of a turreted nose gun.
The nose gun concept was considered in the 140-page report as most applicable for upgrading the Griffon as an armed reconnaissance aircraft. But the report pointed out the Griffon’s limitations. “Without investment in power and performance enhancements, the Griffon’s potential in the aerial firepower role is severely limited,” the report states.
Defense analyst Martin Shadwick said new engines might boost the Griffon’s power, but investing in 14-year-old helicopters raises issues of cost-effectiveness. “There is the argument that every dollar you put into an armed Griffon is one less dollar you are putting into a new armed reconnaissance helicopter,” said Shadwick, who teaches strategic studies at York University in Toronto. He said the military could easily make the case to the Canadian government that the Chinooks must be accompanied into the field by armed helicopter escorts.
“The Chinooks are like gold,” Shadwick said. “It’s extremely important to do as much as you can to protect them.”