Canada Orders New Sensors for Aurora Aircraft

The Honourable Peter Gordon MacKay, Minister of National Defence and Minister of the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency, today underscored the government’s commitment to Canadian sovereignty and security with the announcement of a new overland surveillance capability for the Canadian Forces’(CF) CP-140 Aurora aircraft. “I am proud to be announcing yet another example of our Conservative government’s pledge to the safety and security of Canadians at home and abroad,” said Minister MacKay. “This additional investment will both complement and augment the upgrades and modernization efforts currently underway on the CP-140 fleet”. This intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance addition to the Aurora is another step in enhancing this aircraft’s operational capabilities. The project directly supports the tenets of the Canada First Defence Strategy by providing the modern equipment necessary for the CF to carry out its territorial surveillance roles. This project will deliver the mission systems required to improve the Aurora’s ability to conduct primarily domestic sovereignty and security missions, and is valued at approximately $20 million. L-3 Communications (L-3) will provide systems engineering and integration of commercially available off-the-shelf components, to which minor modifications for CF use will be made. This will be done through a contract amendment to an existing 10-year Optimized Weapons System Support (OWSS) contract that DND has with L-3 for the Aurora. This portion is valued at approximately $10 million and capitalizes on the expertise and skills L-3 has already acquired over their 20 years of experience in supporting the Aurora aircraft. The remaining portion of the project will be acquired through Foreign Military Sales with the U.S. Navy. The Aurora remains a valuable CF asset and will continue to fly productive missions in its maritime and land surveillance roles until the completion of its service life. The Air Force and Navy are currently defining their requirement for a future maritime patrol aircraft to replace the Aurora starting in 2020, as also outlined the Canada First Defence Strategy.