Thank you.
Mr. Chairman and honourable members, it's a pleasure to be here today and present to you what we believe to be a compelling solution to the Canadian government's fixed-wing search and rescue program, the V-22 Osprey.
The V-22 successfully blends, in one platform, the high-speed, long-range, long-endurance search and assist capability of fixed-wing transports with the manoeuvrability and vertical flight rescue capabilities of SAR helicopters. Integrating an appropriate number of these exceptional and proven aircraft into the Canadian Forces rescue community maximizes the level of SAR service by dramatically reducing time to rescue while reducing total mission costs.
The V-22 is a fixed-wing aircraft with prop rotors at each wing tip that function as both propellers and rotors. The prop rotors, along with our engines and gear boxes, are mounted in nacelles that rotate from a vertical position in the hovering mode to a horizontal position in the airplane mode. We can also operate routinely at intermediate and nacelle angles to optimize the aircraft's performance. There's a graphic of the three different configurations there in your package.
An interconnect driveshaft between the nacelles allows one engine inoperative performance. Because the blades are counter-rotating, you do not have an adverse yaw situation with one engine. Other key features include a fully marinized structure and engines for continuous corrosion resistant operations in a maritime environment; extensive use of composites to increase resistance to corrosion fatigue; state-of-the-art crash-worthiness features in the areas of structural design, load attenuation, passenger safety, payload retention, fire suppression, and emergency escape; triple redundant digital fly-by-wire flight controls and hydraulic systems; Rolls-Royce AE 1107C engines, which share the same engine core as found on the CC-130J; modern avionics with glass cockpit displays; a number of radar options to include weather, maritime search, or terrain-following and terrain avoidance; an ice protection system, which includes both anti-ice and de-ice capabilities certified into known moderate icing—and most of our testing of that system was actually performed in Shearwater; and an open passenger and cargo cabin with roller rails, winch, hoist, and a rear loading ramp to provide the SAR techs with the clearance required to safely perform all necessary ground and airborne tasks.
The V-22 program is in full production. We're delivering over 400 aircraft to the U.S. military and concurrently executing a five-year comprehensive fleet support sustainment package. The fleet has logged over 95,000 flight hours, with approximately 80% of those in the last five years. The aircraft has been globally deployed performing humanitarian relief, governance, and combat missions in Honduras, Haiti, Pakistan, North Africa, Iraq, and Afghanistan.
Why are we different? While many aircraft are capable of long-range, high-speed, fixed-wing search and assist, only the V-22 has the ability to hover or land vertically to complete the rescue in extremely austere environments and then transfer the rescuee directly to a care facility.
The V-22's ability to operate independent of runways also allows forward basing with minimal infrastructure.
Additional inherent capabilities that facilitate SAR missions include a ground-based mission planning system that overlays map data with weather, navigation, and mission scenario information to determine mission feasibility and safety. It also generates primary and alternate flight plans and is used for post-flight debriefing functions. It includes a flight director that provides uncoupled guidance commands as well as coupled or autopilot engagements for several flight path, inertial navigation, and electronic navigation modes, including discrete search patterns.
The V-22 cabin concept addresses the most critical rescue and system operator needs, with ample communications, sensor integration, equipment stowage, litter capacity, seating, medical services equipment to include 100% oxygen, and external cargo capability. If required, SAR techs may parachute to a rescue site or packages may be dropped using the proven joint precision air drop system.
The V-22 can also be aerial-refueled—there's a picture of this at the bottom of page four—providing virtually unlimited range or endurance. The Osprey is compatible with existing Canadian refueling fleet aircraft.
In addition to its unique performance attributes, the V-22 provides a cost-efficient solution in a time of financial constraints. Total mission costs include the allocated costs of many complementary elements in addition to direct operating costs of the platform itself. Tiltrotor technology greatly reduces the need for many of the support structures and systems, providing a substantially lower mission cost when compared with legacy partnerships of today.
The V-22 also brings a number of support-type improvements to the solution, particularly in the area of training. Training approach emphasizes the use of high-quality simulators, which reduce by approximately 70% the need for live aircraft training flights. Missions can be flown typically in much less total time utilizing fewer assets, resulting in lower requirements for fuel, oil, and the like and subsequently lowering total emissions and noise pollution.
In conclusion, we believe that the Osprey's unique capabilities offer the opportunity to greatly enhance the mission effectiveness of the Canadian search and rescue community. By rapidly providing immediate assistance and rescue with one platform, the V-22 complements a world-class community of professionals that will save more lives and utilize fewer assets.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman and honourable members.