The Peruvian navy is to acquire five Kaman SH-2G Super Seasprite helicopters through the Canadian government. Four will be upgraded with an integrated mission system and one is lined up for overhaul.
General Dynamics Canada announced on 27 October that it had been awarded the work in a multimillion-dollar contract facilitated by the Canadian Commercial Corporation, the country’s intergovernmental contracting organisation.
It is understood that the helicopters are the first five of the Royal New Zealand Navy’s Super Seasprite fleet. New Zealand is currently in the process of acquiring 10 SH-2G(I) variants that had been previously ordered by Australia.
Kaman
Peru will gain surveillance and search-and-rescue capabilities through the contract, benefiting from Canada’s own helicopter modernisation efforts, namely the Aurora incremental modernisation programme and the CH-148 Cycle maritime helicopter project.
"The Peruvian maritime requirement shares many similarities with Canada,” Brian Fava, vice president of General Dynamics Canada, said in a news release.
With the Canadian solution, Peru “will gain real-time access to accurate and useful situational-awareness intelligence provided by our integrated sensor suite”, Fava says in the release. The system is useful for complex maritime and littoral surveillance, both at and below surface level, as well as search-and-rescue operations, the release says.
Integrated technology will include the company’s Sonobouy Acoustics and Stores Management system.
The mission system will help operators “detect, track and engage targets” in a wide range of missions and scenarios, according to the release.
General Dynamics Canada is in negotiations with original manufacturer Kaman for the provision of services, including systems upgrades and installation of the mission system.
Source: FlightGlobal.com
