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Canadian Multi-Mission Aircraft (CMMA)

The Canadian Multi-Mission Aircraft (CMMA) project will replace the Royal Canadian Air Force fleet of CP-140 Aurora aircraft and enhance its anti-submarine warfare (ASW) and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) capabilities. As of 2020 Initial Delivery was slated for 2032/2033, with Final Delivery by 2037/2038. Some senior RCAF officers have suggested in recent years the solution could be a mix of aircraft and sensors, rather than a single platform.

The modernized CP-140 Aurora Long-Range Maritime Patrol Aircraft is a vital Canadian Joint Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance platform given its cutting-edge anti-submarine warfare and long-range surveillance capabilities. This aircraft is used extensively by the Canadian Armed Forces, both in the Arctic and abroad, and will be replaced in the early 2030s with the Canadian Multi-Mission Aircraft.

To meet the continuing and evolving mandate for advanced ISR capabilities, the Canadian Armed Forces needs a manned, long-range platform, capable of providing C4 ISR and ASW with the ability to engage/control and to fully integrate with other ISR and ASW assets. The Canadian Multi-Mission aircraft (CMA) project will provide the capability required to effectively support Canada’s strategic requirements for C4ISR and ASW at home as well as to support Canada’s interests abroad. Canada’s large size necessitates an aircraft with long range and loiter times to ensure the platform can transit to operating areas and remain on station for sufficient time.

The Canada First Defence Strategy announced that the CP-140 Aurora, Canada’s longrange maritime patrol aircraft, will be replaced by a fleet of Canadian Multi-Mission Aircraft (CMA). Given the serviceability/operational availability rates expected for a new aircraft, the Canada First Defence Strategy’s proposed fleet size for CMA of 10 to 12 appears to be a bare minimum for sustaining surveillance on two coasts simultaneously.

In addition to the two Main Operating Bases (MOBs) in Comox, BC and Greenwood, NS, the aircraft and their crews can avail themselves of three Forward Operating Bases (FOBs): Iqaluit, NU; St. John’s, NL; and Yellowknife, NT. All of these bases can be used indefinitely to support operations within the Area of Responsibility [AOR]. Although the Eastern AOR looks larger and more challenging, the placement of the MOB and FOB on this coast allows coverage to be extended out further with fewer aircraft than on the West Coast, where the single MOB is located essentially in one of the corners of the AOR. It is clear that there are areas to the North of the typical Arctic transit that are extremely difficult to cover with the current operating bases, yet still well within Canada’s AOR – particularly as Canada submits claims to extend its EEZ in this area.

Analyses on fleet replacement noted that overall CP-140 fleet Operational Availability had suffered. It was between 40 % to 50 % from the period of 1995 to 2000, dropped below 40 % in 2001, below 30 % in 2003, and finally remained below 20 % from 2005 to 007. However it is important to note that the denominator used for those calculations was the entire fleet size of 18, which included aircraft that were off the flight line for extended periods undergoing modernization. When only those aircraft that were actually available to the operational squadrons are considered, Operational Availability was above 50 % from 1998 to 2001, and only fell below 40 % once in the period from 1998 to 2008. The expectation was that once all aircraft undergoing modernization have been returned to the flight line, 50 % Operational Availability is achievable.

In 2007 the Conservative government committed to structural upgrades for 10 Auroras to allow those planes to continue flying to 2020 and beyond. But also in that year, Defence Minister Peter MacKay said the military had to ensure there was no operational gap in its surveillance capabilities when it came time to retire the maritime patrol planes. Potential replacement planes could include the U.S. Navy's Multi-Mission Maritime Aircraft - the Boeing P-8 Poseidon - as well as the Bombardier-built Global Express aircraft. The Global Express is the airframe being used for the AS-TOR (Airborne Stand-Off Radar), Britain's airborne air-to-ground surveillance system operated by the RAF and British Army. Unmanned aerial vehicles could also take over some of the surveillance duties from the Aurora in the future, but MacKay pointed out that because of Canada's often harsh weather conditions, in particular in the Arctic, UAVs would not be able to handle the surveillance role completely.

Airbus Military provided information to the RCAF on the firm's C-295 aircraft. Canada mayy consider a mixed fleet of P-8s - the least number possible for long range endurance - and a medium aircraft like C-295 for short range. Chile had already acquired the C-295 in an anti-submarine warfare configuration. Bombardier and Elta Systems, a subsidiary of Israel Aerospace Industries (TAT), had teamed up to begin marketing a maritime patrol aircraft based on Bombardier's Q400 aircraft as a replacement for the Lockheed Martin P-3 Orion/Aurora. Lockheed Martin was marketing its SC-130 Sea Hercules, a maritime patrol version of the company's C-130J aircraft already being operated by the RCAF. Sweden's Saab has a multi-role airborne surveillance platform based on its Saab 2000 twin-engine turboprop, or the Saab Swordfish, a Bombardier Global 6000 platform.

Canada could invest in satellites and UAVs to enhance its domain awareness. One option is a space-based surveillance or detection system, and the RADARSAT Constellation of three satellites scheduled to be launched starting in 2018 could well be suited to this mission. Another option might be unmanned aerial vehicles, the high altitude ones like the Global Hawk UAV. The RADARSAT Constellation of satellites and high-altitude unmanned aerial vehicles could provide a persistent surveillance of the air and maritime space region. However, more satellites might be required in the future. It's possible that three satellites would not be enough in terms of the RADARSAT Constellation, that you would need perhaps five. Others argued that Canada might even consider increasing the total number of RADARSAT Constellation satellites to six.

In April 2011 Col. Randy Meiklejohn told aerospace company representatives attending a Canadian Association of Defence and Security Industries (CADSI) forum that the initial operating capability for the CMA would be in 2017/2018. Timelines on the program, however, slipped to the right, and by 2012 the aircraft were expected by 2020.

In 2015 the Government of Canada announced that it would add another four aircraft to the ten already being updated under the Aurora Incremental Modernization Project, and extend the lifespan of those fourteen aircraft to 2030 under the Aurora Structural Life Extension Project.

On 10 February 2022 Boeing announced its intent to offer the P-8A Poseidon in response to Canada’s Request for Information (RFI) for long-range maritime patrol aircraft. With more than 140 aircraft in service, the P-8 has executed more than 400,000 mishap free flight-hours around the globe. Militaries that operate or have selected the P-8 include the U.S. Navy, the United Kingdom’s Royal Air Force, Royal Australian Air Force, Royal New Zealand Air Force, Indian Navy, Royal Norwegian Air Force, Republic of Korea Navy and German Navy.

The P-8A’s multi-mission capability has delivered mission success in ASW, ISR, humanitarian assistance and disaster relief and search and rescue missions. These multi-mission capabilities are enhanced through secure, interoperable, net-ready systems that will provide Canada with the ability to engage/control and to fully integrate with other ASW and ISR assets.