Part Three
First it's Smooth, Then it's Bumpy - Canada's Airbus CP-150A Arcturus
In reality, turning the CC-150s into CP-150s was not as challenging as it sounds. After decades of service, the fleet were already fitted out to military standards. That left specific airframe modifications needed to mount surface-search radar, the MAD tail boom, and other sensors required for the Northern Patrol (NORPAT) role. Technically, this work fell under Phase I of the Polaris Structural Life Extension Project (PSLEP) contract. But, wisely, Air Transat had chose to sub-contract this work to Field Aviation, a Toronto firm with experience in adapting existing transport airframes into 'Special Mission Aircraft'. All such airframe modifications arrived at Montreal as sub-assemblies ready for installation by Air Transats. RCAF AVN and AVS Techs then installed and ground-tested sensors and avionics.
Thus far, the physical work involved in PSLEP Phase I was proceeding fairly smoothly. In Halifax, PSLEP Phase II faced an added challenge when the GoC took an opportunity to sell-off the VIP-configured Polaris. With 15001 on its way to a new life serving the government of the Central African Republic, the chore of converting the four remaining, standardized Polaris was actually simplified. But IMP Aerospace & Defence no longer had access to a 'mule' airframe on which to test its modified pallets and containers. However, when it was decided that only three CC-150s would be fully converted, the redundant 15003 was transferred from CFB Trenton to Halifax to fill in. [1]
Vagaries - The Inevitable Effect of Events on the Best-Laid Plans
Wishful thinking has very little place in policy-making. A renewed American interest in actively pushing FONOPs through the Northwest Passage was all but inevitable. But successive governments in Ottawa had done nothing other than to hope that it would not be on their watch when such direct challenges to Canadian sovereignty did occur. And now it had. Both US Coast Guard and US Navy ships had made previous voyages through the NWP. But these had always been with advanced notice to the Government of Canada followed by assistance from Canadian Coast Guard icebreakers. No such reactive sovereignty-assertion window-dressing this time. America was out to make its point on Freedom of Navigation.
The US-flagged and ice-capable tanker M/V Maersk Peary had taken on crude oil at the new Prudhoe Bay Marine Terminal (PBMT) before leaving the North Slope behind to join her US Coast Guard escorts in the Beaufort Sea. Lead escort was the rather tired USCGC Healy (WAGB-20) - a medium icebreaker. Back-up was provided by the newer USCGC Murkowski (WLBB-40), a former Viking class ice-classed supply tug. [2] The objective was the German oil terminal at Hamburg-Waltershof. This was said to be part of fulfilling US commitments made to Germany about replacing boycotted Russian fossil fuels. Just as LNG was coming to German ports from the US East Coast and oil from the Gulf Coast, Alaskan crude could be shipped across the Arctic during the brief melt of Summer. And Canada would have no say in the matter.
Canadian officials were blissfully unaware of this US flotilla until it was spotted by fishermen off of Sachs Harbour on Banks Island. Alerted, Canadian Rangers then tracked the Americans' progress as these ships rounded the Nelson Head cliffs on the southern tip of the island. The US flotilla then entered the north-south running Prince of Wales Strait. In the meantime, consternation in Ottawa had translated into demands for some form of official action. The nearest GoC aerial asset was a slow-flying patrol aircraft belonging to the National Aerial Surveillance Program (NASP). It would not be enough and the RCAF was already planning flights by patrol aircraft from the south.
Planning on the Fly - Non-Diplomatic Responses to the US Incursion
NASP's Moncton-based Dash 8 was already deployed in Nunavut. But that Dash 8 was operating out of the NASP Arctic Hangar and Accommodations Unit (AHAU) at Iqaluit (while performing DFO's High Arctic Cetacean Survey in the waters around Baffin and Ellesmere islands). A direct 1,707 km flight from Iqaluit (YFB) to Cambridge Bay on Victoria Island was out of the question. That was within the DHC-8-102's maximum range but left insufficient operating margins of safety for the High Arctic. Thus, this NASP aircraft would stop off at Rankin Inlet (YRT) on the Kudlulik Peninsula for rest and refuelling. With this stop-over, the NASP transit would take about 6 hours just to reach Cambridge Bay. [3] Still, on arrival, that modest transit speed also translated into multiple low-and-slow passes over the US interlopers.
Further south, plans to deploy CP-140M Aurora's from 19 Wing at CFB Comox, BC, and 14 Wing at CFB Greenwood, Nova Scotia. However, the Commanding Officer of 14 Wing - Colonel Bruno Baker - made a bold alternative suggestion. Send the Auroras from 405 LRP Sqn towards Iqaluit, NU, and 407 LRP Sqn towards Iqaluit, NWT, by all means. But, in the meantime, fly the partially kitted-out CP-150 TBA (Test-Bed Airframe) over Prince of Wales Strait. Col Baker's crews had been training at 14 Wing's Throney Island Simulation Centre in readiness for 415 Long Range Patrol Force Development Squadron taking on the new Arcturus II. [4] A quick call to the contact person at IMP Aerospace & Defence confirmed that CP-150 TBA 15002 was basically airworthy and ready to roll.
Once the Chief of Air Force Staff received a go-ahead from the Prime Minister's Office, Col Baker was ordering his crews into pre-arranged 413 Transport and Rescue Squadron Hercules for the short hop to the IMP facility at Halifax Stanfield (YHZ). [5] There they would meet up with a flight crew from 437 Transport Squadron who had flown in from CFB Trenton. Although their squadron had transitioned over to the new Airbus CC-250 Polaris II (A-330-200F MRTT), the 437 (T) Sqn personnel had extensive prior experience on the Polaris. The 437 (T) Sqn flight crew would take the outboard flight, with the object of leaving the trainee crew from 415 LRP-FD Sqn 'fresh' and able to fly the Maritime Patrol leg over the Beaufort Sea.
Into the Void - Test Bed Over the Frozen Tundra
The transit flight was made in two stages. The 437 (T) Sqn crew flew the CP-150 TBA the 3,755 km leg from Halifax (YHZ) to CFS Yellowknife (at YZF). After this 5 hour flight, the aircraft was ground-checked and refuelled before turning over to the 415 LRP-FD Sqn crew. In the meantime, Canadian Forces Northern Area Headquarters at CFB Yellowknife had reconfirmed the go-ahead from Ottawa. Within half an hour, Colonel Baker's crew was taxiing 15002 out for a 1,000 km flight to the mid-point of Prince of Wales Strait.
(To be continued ...)
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[1] Polaris 15003 would fulfil its PSLEP Phase I 'mule' role before becoming a 'CT-150' crew trainer for the CP-150A fleet. Of the other three airframes, 15002 differed from the rest solely in lacking the MRTT modifications. As far a sensor fit and other aspects relevant to NORPATs, the three CP-150As were virtually identical.
[2] Named for Alaskan senior senator, Lisa Ann Murkowski, WLBB-40 had been Magne Viking. However, at the start of Putin's ill-considered war against Ukraine, Viking Supply Ships AB gave up its Russian contracts. The ship was sold off in an attempt to recoup some of Viking's €18.5M loss.
[3] At 1,175 km, the flight from YFB to YRT would take 2.45 hour flight (at 500 km/h) with a reasonable safety margin. The stop-over was estimated at 1.25 hours (for a crew break and fuelling). Then, the YRT to YCB leg would take another 2 hours.
[4] Although official, the full Arcturus II name was almost never used. The original CP-140A 'Arcturus I' had been retired from service for over a decade. Younger RCAF members didn't even remember the CP-140A. Accordingly, in common use, the CP-150 was simply the Arcturus.
[5] The drive from the Annapolis Valley to YHZ would only take 1.5 hours but time was of the essence. Beyond the CC-130 on SAR stand-by, another Herc was available (413 TRS flies both Hercules and CH-149 Cormorant SAR helicopters).
