The 'next Tactical Aviation Capability Set' ProjectThis is going to be rather wordy - since it began as the long-form critique of a RW procurement programme - to wit, the Canadian nTACS project.
(Note: Profile appears in the next post:
https://beyondthesprues.com/Forum/index.php?topic=351.msg235892#msg235892)
First, a bit of background ...
Canada's DND is pursuing a modernisation of TacHel under the nTACS project. This began as a planned replacement for RCAF CH-146
Griffon tactical helicopters - some airframes in that Bell 412 fleet are now approaching 34 years of age. [1] But, what began as a relatively simple replacement procurement programme, has now expanded to cover other, only semi-related roles. These added roles include:
- Mobility and Support to Special Operations Forces: With CANSOFCOM planners envisioning something akin to the MH-60M Black Hawks employed by USSOCOM;
- Aerial Firepower and C4ISR capability-gap fillers: Sometimes given as 'attack-recce', this translates into attack helicopters with an added C4ISR emphasis; and
- Uncrewed or Remotely-Piloted options: A bit of future-gazing which, frankly, seems more like a research programme.
nTACS - Problems and ChallengesExpanding procurement programmes beyond simple replacements is sometimes necessary. But it rarely, if ever, streamlines a procurement process. In the case of tactical helicopters, it was well worth spreading out and reviewing all relevant roles and capability requirements in order to gain overall perspective. Whether, perforce, all such roles had to be jammed into an expanded nTACS requirement is another matter.
But nTACS has a bigger problem than potential confusion from project 'spread' - and that is timing. The RCAF's Director General of Air and Space Force Development, BGen Brendan Cook announced publicly that Canada must be prepared for war by 2028 to 2030. [2] But initial delivery of nTACS is not scheduled to begin until 2032/2033. In other words, any new Canadian TacHel capability will arrive too late for the anticipated conflict.
"Mind that Bus!" - The nTACS ScheduleIn effect, broadening nTACS has turned this planned procurement into what DND likes to call an Omnibus Project - that is, a 'parent' project which then spawns sub-projects to deliver actual capabilities (another word that DND loves to use). This has already affected the schedule of nTACS - with the CANSOFCOM Mobility and Support capability being moved to the top priority position.
Almost inevitably, CANSOFCOM will choose the MH-60M variant of the Sikorsky S-70A
Black Hawk (as operated by USSOCOM). As a chosen path, that conflicts with Prime Minister Mark Carney's stated goal of reducing Canadian defence procurement reliance upon US industry. However, should that path be taken, it will invariably influence the later decision on which airframe should replace the current fleet of 82 x CH-146
Griffon tactical helicopters.
That influence would remain even if CANSOFCOM's requirement was separated out as part of an nTACS Omnibus Project. But said influence would be less strong on the remainder of the nTACS project. Then the question becomes: what COTS options are available as direct CH-146 replacements and which of them would provide genuine industrial benefits to Canada? The official offerings listed so far are:
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H175M by Airbus Helicopters: Only slightly larger than the CH-146, the H175H is more than twice as powerful [3] and Airbus has proposed a Canadian production line. (AFAIK, Airbus is making no offer for the separate attack-C4ISR role.)
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AW149 by Leonardo Helicopters: As selected for the British New Medium Helicopter (NMH) program, the Italian AW149 is a direct rival to the H175M. The AW149 uses American GE CT7 engines and licensed-production is unlikely. (For attack-C4ISR, Leonardo is offering its AW249
Fenice attack helicopter.)
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S-70A Black Hawk by Sikorsky (now a Lockheed Martin subsidiary): Almost certainly the choice of CANSOFCOM, any
Black Hawk procurement would be entirely from the US. (On the uncrewed side, in July 2022, Sikorsky test-flew a
Black Hawk with its entire cockpit replaced by clamshell loading doors.)
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MV-75 by Bell Textron: Formerly the V-280
Valor, the MV-75 is a tiltrotor design still in the prototype stage for the US Army. Compared with the S-70A
Black Hawk it is to replace, the MV-75 is longer-ranged and faster. But to gain that speed, it requires engines more powerful than those of the larger MV-22B
Osprey.
- Boeing has expressed interest in nTACS but offers no
Griffon replacement. Instead, Boeing has put forward a seemingly off-topic CH-147F modernisation scheme and their AH-64
Apache for the attack-C4ISR role.
Choosing the Next Generation of TacHelAny favourite(s) for the nTACS project will depend upon how DND 'weights' the competition. If pure performance is given priority (with cost and risk being no object), the experimental Bell MV-75 tiltrotor will be a strong contender. If proven service and established supply lines are more highly valued, the Sikorsky
Black Hawk will be hard to beat.
The wild card comes when considering PM Carney's desire to reduce defence procurement spending to US suppliers (down from the current 75% of total spending) while factoring in potential boons to Canadian aerospace (beyond the usual industrial benefit offsets). Then, Airbus Helicopters' H175M suddenly stands out from the crowd.
The H175M is certainly a more capable helicopter than the CH-146
Griffon. But it is not dramatically larger. That lack of drama has some practical advantages - such as replacement helicopters readily fitting into existing hangars and on to heli-pads at the 11 bases from which
Griffons currently operate. But the biggest advantages for the H175M offering are economic. [4]
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[1] The RCAF's CH-146 fleet is currently moving through GLLE - the
Griffon Limited Life-Extension upgrade programme. The result will be modernised, more capable tactical helicopters ... but still using airframes that are 3 decades old.
[2] This statement was made at Space Canada Horizon's 2025 conference. In his speech, BGen Cook was addressing the potential for conflicts erupting in NATO's European territories and the Indo-Pacific as well as threats to Canadian Arctic sovereignty. But, even a year ago, DND's emphasis was still on combined ops with US forces.
[3] Both
Griffon and H175M are equipped with Pratt & Whitney Canada engines - with the conjoined PT6T-3D
TwinPac powering the CH-146 and 2 x PT6C-67E in the H175M.
[4] That does not necessarily translate into the least expensive price per airframe. For example, because of the scale of its production, the
Black Hawk has a unit cost lower than that of the Leonardo AW149 (although not lower than that of the Airbus Helicopters H175M).
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