Field Aviation will receive the first of three Royal Danish Air Force Bombardier Challenger 604 business jets to be modified into multi-mission aircraft on 11 July. All three aircraft are scheduled for modification at the Canadian company's Toronto centre by December next year.
The aircraft will be equipped with a Telephonics surveillance radar and retractable FLIR Systems electro-optical sensor and will be used for fisheries protection, environment monitoring, ice reconnaissance and search and rescue, in addition to their roles of VIP transport and medevac.
The radar will be housed in a large radome under the forward fuselage. Because the Challengers are required to fly directly from Denmark to Greenland to patrol the Danish economic exclusion zone around the island, the impact of radome drag on range is critical. Field says preliminary computational fluid dynamics analysis indicates the modified aircraft will meet its range target, but the company plans to install a radome on the first aircraft and fly it later this quarter to check actual range.
With an increasing number of business jets being adapted for special missions, Field views the Danish contract as key to winning additional modification business. The company previously modified five Bombardier Dash 8-200 twin-turboprops to maritime patrol aircraft operated by National Jet Systems on behalf of the Australian Customs Service.
Source: Flight International
