This contract will enhance the aircraft’s systems and technologies, ensure compliance with emerging airspace requirements, extend the life expectancy of the fleet to 2042+ and enable the return ofCormorant helicopters to the Main Operating Base (MOB) Trenton.The CH-149 Cormorant fleet will undergo a mid-life upgrade, further to Team Cormorant’s proposition.

The team is a collaboration of Leonardo and is supported by its principal Canadian subcontractor IMP Aerospace and Defence with GE Canada and Collins Aerospace Canada. Most CMLU work will be performed in Canada, primarily at IMP’s Halifax, N.S. facilities. The CMLU Project will transition Canada’s AW101/CH-149 “Cormorant” SAR helicopter fleet to the latest standard currently being delivered for SAR in Norway. The CMLU Project will include avionics, a new glass cockpit, digitally-controlled engines, wireless in-cabin communications, and the latest SAR sensors, including Electro-Optical Infra-Red device and Mobile Phone Detection Location System –enabling less search and more rescue.