Griffon helicopter replacement not in the cards for the Liberals anytime soon

David Pugliese, Ottawa Citizen - Published on: June 12, 2017 | Last Updated: June 12, 2017 1:43 AM EDT


Griffon helicopters take off on a mission. DND photo.

A number of aerospace firms exhibiting at the recently held CANSEC 2017 defence trade show in Ottawa highlighted the helicopters they hoped they could offer the
Canadian government as a replacement for the RCAF’s Griffons. The companies had heard Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan suggest that a replacement would be needed for the Griffon.

Romain Trapp, president of Airbus Helicopters in Canada, briefed journalists at CANSEC pointing out the capabilities of the company’s H145M as a possible replacement for the Griffon.

“We made the business case by showing (the RCAF) that by going to a new platform, the Canadian taxpayers would save more than $1 billion,” he explained.
Those saving would be made over a 10-year period.

Leonardo Helicopters also has a variety of aircraft that could replace the CH-146.

But the Liberal government’s newly released defence policy did not follow through with a Griffon replacement. Instead, the Liberals will embark on what they are calling the “CH-146 Griffon Limited Life Extension.”They didn’t go into details but the emphasis here is “limited.”  It is unclear whether that project will be a stop-gap life extension until a new helicopter procurement could take place.

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