A bit of additional backstory to Andrew's
A Hornet's Tale thread ...
When Hal Jackman offered the five Spartan Logistics
Hornets as potential airframes for Counter-Terrorism (CT) / Counter-Insurgency (COIN) use, a suggested rebuild was part of the package. That relatively modest rebuild plan was the work of Field Aviation of Mississauga. However, under then-current procurement rules, Public Works & Government Service Canada insisted upon an open competition.
Kelowna Flightcraft (teamed with Marshall Aerospace) proposed an ever simpler upgrade than Field. The KF team believed that the DHC 103D was overpowered for the COIN role. As such, the thirsty, 2,250 shp Darts were to be replaced with far more fuel-efficient 1,800 shp PW118B turboprops. The wings would be rebuilt with hardpoints and a target pod was to be slung under the nose. The modernised cockpit would be fitted with a refurbished Stanley Yankee Extraction System seat. Unfortunately for KF and Marshall, DND rejected their concept, believing that all possible power would be needed when operating in hot-and-high environments.
By contrast, the rebuild offered by Bombardier Aerospace (partnered with L3 Harris) was very extensive. The powerplants were to be either 1,890 shp PW120A (for commonality with the CT-142 fleet) or 2,260 shp PW123AF (fitted with Bombardier 415 cowlings). Bombardier proposed the installation of twin wingtip fuel tanks. A Rafael
Litening targeting pod would be fitted - with the E/O and FEU portions on the nose and the system electronics and power systems mounted separately under the rear fuselage.
The Bombardier COIN proposal turboprops exhaust above the wings (in Dash 8 fashion) to reduce the aircraft's thermal signature. Initially, Bombardier intended to deal with exhaust heat by replacing the horizontal tails with dihedralled
Heron units which would be reclad in stainless steel. However, at the NRC's recommendation, this arrangement was replaced with an entirely new tailplane based upon the aerodynamics of the Dash 8 tail (which the NRC had extensively modelled and wind tunnel tested).
In its revised form, the rebuilt
Hornet concept was submitted to DND as the Bombardier
Blackfly. Unfortunately for the design team, DND rejected the Bombardier/L3 approach as being overly complex while PW&GSC found this submission to be excessively expensive.
As a result, the now-familiar CT-103
Spartan [1] emerged from Field Aviation complete with belly-mounted targeting pod and the famous 'Keith Ferris' false canopy painted under its nose:
--
https://beyondthesprues.com/Forum/index.php?topic=11438.msg230657#msg230657________________________________________________
[1] DND briefly considered introducing a 'A' for Attack designation and, behind the scenes, the
Spartan was sometimes referred to as the 'CA-103' in both Field and official DND documents.
