AgustaWestland and Airbus Helicopters, unable to meet weight limitations imposed by the Canadian Coast Guard (CCG), have dropped out of a competition to supply eight “off the shelf” medium twin-engine helicopters.
The weight ceiling of 11,000 pounds (4,989 kilograms) evidently was determined by the CCG as the maximum its ships’ landing pads could safely accommodate — even though the ships from which the new helicopters would operate are still in an early design stage. That prompted one industry stakeholder to describe the entire procurement process as a “sham” designed to favor Bell Helicopter Textron Canada.
Neither the CCG nor Public Works and Government Services Canada (PWGSC) would comment on the development, which is understood to have been communicated to the project office some time ago, but AgustaWestland and Airbus did not participate in the latest “industry day” organized by PWGSC.
That ostensibly left the competition open for Bell with its 412 and potentially Sikorsky with its S-76D, but while Sikorsky also has declined comment on whether it plans to bid, sources have said that the S-76D could not meet several other operational criteria.
The 412 tips the scale at 6,789 lb. (3,079 kg) empty with a maximum takeoff weight of 11,900 lb. (5,397 kg). The respective numbers on the S-76D are 7,005 lb. (3,177 kg) and 11,700 lb. (5,307 kg). The AW139 would have weighed in at 7,985 lb. (3,622 kg) and 14,110 lb. (6,400 kg), while the comparable EC175 numbers are 10,130 lb. (4,604 kg) and 16,365 lb. (7,500 kg). The helicopters would replace five late-1970s Bell 212s and three late-1960s Bell 206Ls.
CCG helicopters are tasked mainly with maintenance and construction of aids to navigation and telecommunications equipment, ice reconnaissance, and ship-to-shore personnel and cargo transfers, as well as search-and-rescue backup for the Department of National Defence, support for various departments’ research programs and enforcement of fisheries laws.
Meanwhile, another CCG helicopter procurement, of 16 light twins to replace its 14 remaining MBB Bo.105-CBS models, remains in limbo nearly a year after the Bell 429 seemed to have been chosen.
That procurement fell afoul of allegations by competitors, notably AgustaWestland and Airbus, about the fundamental legitimacy of the competition, after Transport Canada had eased weight restrictions on the Bell 429. Airbus, while it was still branded as Eurocopter, sued the government, and until that is resolved, the project is stalled and informed sources have told Vertical that a resolution is unlikely in the near future.
