The DND has spent the best part of five years trying to decide how extensive its Griffon Limited Life Extension (GLLE) program should be, options including:
- A minor avionics update
- A more substantial platform upgrade, inc. powertrain
- A full upgrade to (/replacement by) the latest Bell 412EPI configuration
- An open competition, to include other types (e.g. AW139).
Aside from the suggestion of an attack helicopter buy, the other notable aspect of Canada's helicopter modernization plans is the cost of the proposed upgrade of the CH-149 (AW101) Cormorant SAR platform, which has been put at "between CAN $500 million and CAN $1.5 billion" by defense minister
Harjit Sajjan. So, for a fleet of 14 aircraft, that could be up to CAN $105 million per helicopter.
I/C