National Defence committee  We have the CN-235. In the U.S. Coast Guard, they are starting operational deployment in the Miami Naval Base, and we have a very good record. Don't listen to me, listen to our customers. We have an unbelievable record of repeat orders.

National Defence committee  That's true in the U.S. Coast Guard and in other coast guards. The aircraft has a long cabin that allows for small details. It's not only the comfort of the crews that is important. For instance, we can have four bubble windows in our planes. Something as simple as that can make a difference when you are searching in mountainous terrain.

National Defence committee  If your SAR technicians are working 10, 12, 15 hours on a search mission, it's nice to have a place to lie down and rest for 20 minutes.

National Defence committee  The recommendations are quite sound. We share most of them, and we read most of them in a positive manner.

National Defence committee  I guess so, yes.

National Defence committee  Thank you very much for your question. You have to know that today our aircraft has been selected and is operating, for instance, in Brazil, where the weather is not cold, but the country is vast, and it is performing search and rescue. In fact, I don't think I'm disclosing something I shouldn't, because it is in the press: we are negotiating with the Brazilian air force for a second batch of planes for their requirements.

National Defence committee  I would never analyze this in favour of one or another. It is physics. When you want to decrease the rescue time, you have to analyze blocking responses. When you analyze rescue time, you basically have three areas to analyze—readiness time, transit time, and search time. Our approach is that during the search time we use high technology, so that we reduce the time in which you are searching.

National Defence committee  Because of its high technology, including the Canadian engines, readiness time is extremely long.

National Defence committee  We have contracts with some of our customers in which we secure availability of over 90%. That's contracted, so we can do the same here with our ISS local partners, our interservice support. We are using equipment that is easy to maintain and repair. This implies a low life-cycle cost, maintenance cost.

National Defence committee  Thank you. Mr. Chairman, members of the committee, Airbus Military is a business unit integrated within the Airbus division. Airbus Military today is the only company worldwide offering a full range of transport surveillance and SAR aircraft, including military derivatives of the successful Airbus commercial platform.