Leonardo CH-149 Cormorant

History

The Royal Canadian Air Force CH-149 "Cormorant" helicopter is the Canadian version of the Agusta Westland AW101 / EH101 "Merlin" medium transport/utility helicopter. The EH101 in its initial form was developed in response to a 1977 UK Ministry of Defence request for a new, state-of-the-art Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) helicopter, the prototype first flew on 9 October 1987 and was certified for service (finally) in 1999, it It was jointly developed by Westland in the UK and Agusta in Italy.

Now both brands belong to the name of Leonardo (Italy).

With this in mind, the Royal Canadian Air Force committed to this type when it contracted for 48 helicopters in 1987, designated the CH-149 "Cormorant". These will be used to replace the aging fleet of Boeing CH-113 "Labradors" ("Sea Knights") and Sikorsky CH-124 "Sea Kings".

Cormorants are used exclusively in search and rescue (SAR) roles by the RCAF.

The Canadian version of the EH101 first flew on May 31, 2000, and entered service the same year. The initial order of 48 (reduced to 42) was eventually reduced to just 15 helicopters, with initial helicopter operations beginning in 2002, replacing the aging CH-113 helicopters in service at the time.

The CH-149 has five standard operators, including two pilots, a flight engineer, and two equipment technicians. The rear passenger compartment can accommodate up to fifteen combat-ready soldiers or twelve medical stretchers and their escorts. The hull has a rectangular side-mounted sliding door on the starboard side and an electric loading and unloading ramp on the stern of the hull (below the stern bracket).

Curb weight is 23,150 pounds, and MTOW is 32,200 pounds. Power comes from three 3,000-horsepower General Electric CT7-8E turboshaft engines, each driving a five-blade main rotor unit and a four-blade tail rotor unit. The main rotor is close to the nacelle, and the tail rotor faces the port side of the aircraft.

A tricycle landing gear with wheels (retractable) is used for ground travel.

The CH-149 is designed to operate in extremely unstable conditions, including mountainous and cold weather conditions, and is therefore equipped with a complete anti-icing/de-icing system. The main rotor is held in place with titanium strips along its leading edge to strengthen the blades as they rotate and help reduce vibration - a particularly useful feature when trying to hover in windy conditions.

The Cormorant has a top speed of 173 mph and a range of up to 865 miles. Listed service is capped at 10,000 feet with a climb rate of 2,010 feet per minute.

A modernization program announced in March 2017 has been confirmed as a mid-range upgrade (MLU) for the series. This will upgrade sensors, radar adaptation, general search and track equipment, and install a new version of the 3,000-horsepower GE CT7-8E engine.

There is a separate plan to upgrade Ex-U. The S. VH-71 Kestrel helicopters (9 produced by the discontinued Marine One for the USMC) are CH-149 compliant and add to RCAF's existing Cormorant fleet.

The CH-149 was used by the 103rd Search and Rescue Squadron and the 413th and 442nd Transport and Rescue Squadrons.

Another helicopter under development for RCAF is the Sikorsky CH-148 Tornado. This model is being built as an offshore platform as a direct successor to the already mentioned CH-124 "Sea King" series. This oft-delayed model is scheduled to launch sometime in 2018, and 11 have been completed so far (2017), out of a total of about 28 signed up. The design is based on the Sikorsky S-92 series model, although its core is a fully militarized form.

CH-148 is described in detail elsewhere on this page.

Once the CH-148 enters service, it should operate alongside the existing CH-149 fleet in the RCAF inventory.

Specification

Basic

Production

Roles

Dimensions

Weight

Performance

Performance

Armor

Changes