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— Canadian forces pilots are still chugging away in the skies in their 40-year-old Sea King helicopters, but the RCMP in New Brunswick will soon get a shiny new helicopter to help them do their work.

The RCMP have announced they're retiring the old police helicopter which has been in service for more than 25 years. In that time, the 206 Long Ranger logged some 14,000 flight hours, about 2.4 million kilometres. It was used for searches, security, surveillance, and to evacuate ill or injured people.

The Long Ranger, known as Mike-Poppa-Tango (MPT), had four pilots during its quarter-century of service. It is now being piloted by Staff Sgt. Steve Seiffert and Cpl. Tom Reid. Seiffert says the old helicopter played a big role in fighting crime in New Brunswick. "Last summer here in the Fredericton area, we were responsible for about $5 million worth of marijuana that was seized, all spotted pretty much from the air. A lot of that would have gone undetected from the ground units searching because it's hidden from horizontal view on the ground."

The new machine, a Eurocopter AS350 B3, is expected in September. Rather than being housed in Fredericton, the Eurocopter will be stationed in Moncton, where the RCMP's fixed-wing Pilatus aircraft is stationed. It will be available to RCMP throughout the Atlantic provinces.

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