As the CP140 Aurora fleet aged, the RCAF began to consider possible replacement types. Contenders from Airbus, Boeing and Kawasaki were all in the frame until Boeing attempted to block the sale of Bombardier CS100 airliners to Delta Air Lines. Boeing’s P-8 Poseidon was dropped as an option in protest by Ottawa and the subsequent sale of the CS100 design to Airbus meant that a local alternative became a possibility.
Discussions between Airbus Canada and the Canadian government sought to integrate the avionics and electronics package of the Airbus A321MPA into the A220-300 aircraft, with structural changes being made to the airframe to allow a weapons bay, sonar buoy dispenser, avionics “bulges” and underwing pylons for anti-shipping missiles. Development of the type at Mirabel in Quebec was politically expedient and allowed the Trudeau government to trumpet the new design as a domestic product, securing Canadian jobs with Canadian money.
The initial prototype flew in December 2019, although integration work on the electronics packages was not complete at that time. Official demonstrations to the RCAF followed in 2020, leading to an order for 14 aircraft. The first RCAF aircraft rolled out at Mirabel in January 2022 and was delivered to the RCAF in March of that year. With the delivery of the first aircraft, the type was officially named as the CP-141 Argus II, in honour of the earlier CP-107 aircraft.
A schedule of further deliveries will continue through to the end of 2024, by which time all of the CP-140s will have been retired and all of the RCAF’s active Long Rang Patrol squadrons will be operating the new type.
The RCAF have announced that each of the aircraft will carry the name of one of Canada’s provinces or territories, with the allocation order being selected at random.
