Wed, Jan 30, 2008
Will Bring Maritime Patrol/SAR Fleet To Five
Aero-News learned this week Field Aviation of Toronto was
recently awarded a contract to convert two additional Bombardier/de
Havilland Dash 8-300 turboprops as Maritime Patrol (MPA)/Search and
Rescue (SAR) platforms for the Japan Coast Guard. This follows an
initial contract for three Japanese Dash 8-300 MPAs signed in
January 2007, and currently under completion.
Sojitz Corporation of Japan is the prime contractor to the Japan
Coast Guard for the project. The two Q300s will be acquired from
Bombardier Aerospace, including Field Aviation's modifications. The
aircraft will be modified by Field Aviation at its Toronto
modification center and will feature a missionized interior, large
conformal observation windows and a unique, Field-developed and
certified air-drop capability through the inflight-operable rear
cargo door.
Surveillance sensors employing the latest technology will be
installed, including a 360° surface search radar, a stabilized
FLIR electro-optical multi-spectral imaging payload, as well as a
new suite of modern mission navigation communications systems. The
aircraft modifications, valued at $US13 million, will commence in
January, 2009, and both aircraft will be delivered by November
2009.
Japan’s new aircraft will
operate as the next-generation fixed-wing turboprop for maritime
patrol and search and rescue duty within Japan’s area of
maritime responsibility.
The Dash 8 was first modified for the Maritime Patrol role by
Field in 1995, when three aircraft were delivered to Surveillance
Australia which provides airborne surveillance of the Australian
Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), under the country’s COASTWATCH
program. Two additional Dash 8 MPAs were delivered to Australia in
2000, and Field is currently modifying additional aircraft that
have seen the Surveillance Australia fleet grow to 10 Dash 8s by
the end of 2007.
Other customers for Field’s Dash 8 MPA/ SAR Aircraft
modifications include US Customs and Border Protection, where the
first of a fleet of Series 200 MPAs entered service in 2005, as
well as the Swedish Coast Guard and the Iceland Coast Guard..
More News
According To The Witness, Once The Airplane Landed, It Continued To Roll In A Relatively Straight Line Until It Impacted A Tree In His Front Yard On November 4, 2025, about 12:45 e>[...]
"In the frame-by-frame photos from the surveillance video, the left engine can be seen rotating upward from the wing, and as it detaches from the wing, a fire ignites that engulfs >[...]
Radar Required A term displayed on charts and approach plates and included in FDC NOTAMs to alert pilots that segments of either an instrument approach procedure or a route are not>[...]
From 2023 (YouTube Edition): It’s a Small World After All… Founded in 2011 by pilot, aircraft designer and builder, and U.S. Air Force veteran Sam Watrous, Uncasville,>[...]
Also: UFC Buys Tecnams, Emirates B777-9 Buy, Allegiant Pickets, F-22 And MQ-20 The NTSB's preliminary report on the UPS Flight 2976 crash has focused on the left engine pylon's sep>[...]
NTSB Prelim: Funk B85C
See All