The Canadian American Strategic Review is reporting the Canadian Coast Guard is considering replacing their current fleet of 23 helicopters with 24 new helicopters of two different types. They also go on to look at possible alternative replacement helicopters.

When will our own fleet need to be replaced? Unlike the ship building program, our aviation branch has a history of being relatively aggressive in seeking replacements. They promptly replaced the HH-3Fs about the time they reached 30 years of service, and they replaced the HH-52 after an even shorter service life.

Our current helicopter fleet has benefited from aggressive update programs. The H-65s were re-engined beginning in 2004 and upgrades continue to be applied.

“As of September 2012, 36 MH-65 helicopters (of approximately 100–Chuck) have completed the Discrete Segment 4 upgrades. The Coast Guard’s Aviation Logistics Center plans to upgrade 22 aircraft per year.” —source

The H-60s are also being updated

“As of August 8, 2012, 30 of 42 MH-60Ts have been upgraded with new avionics suites and Airborne Use of Force capabilities. Twenty-eight of 42 MH-60Ts also have been upgraded with enhanced electro-optic/infrared sensor systems.”–source

As the USAF has demonstrated with their B-52s, aircraft can last a long time if they are continually rebuilt and updated. Potential replacements for our existing helicopters are not markedly better than the existing models. The budget is extremely tight and is expected to remain so for decades.

Still, it does seem to take approximately ten year to procure new equipment. It may not be many years before it will be time to start looking at replacements for the HH-65 (introduced in 1985) followed by replacements for the H-60 (introduced in the early ’90s).