Upgraded CH-149 Cormorant completes first flight
Royal Canadian Air Force search and rescue helicopter modernization reaches key flight-test milestone ahead of first aircraft delivery in 2027
The first upgraded CH-149 Cormorant helicopter has completed its maiden flight in Yeovil, UK, marking a significant milestone in the Royal Canadian Air Force’s (RCAF’s) program to modernize its long-range search and rescue (SAR) fleet.
The flight, completed as part of the Cormorant Mid-Life Upgrade project, is the first major airborne evaluation of the modified aircraft. It forms part of the production process to verify the helicopter’s flight characteristics and assess the performance of its upgraded systems before further testing.
Additional flight and systems evaluations will now take place ahead of the delivery of the first upgraded aircraft to the RCAF in 2027.
The modernization program, being carried out under contract with Leonardo UK, will upgrade Canada’s existing CH-149 fleet to the latest AW101 standard while increasing the fleet from 13 to 16 aircraft through the acquisition of additional airframes and parts.
The project is intended to extend the operational life of the fleet until at least 2042 while addressing equipment obsolescence and improving mission capability for Canada’s SAR service.
The upgraded helicopters will continue to support SAR operations from Comox, British Columbia; Gander, Newfoundland and Labrador; Greenwood, Nova Scotia; and Trenton, Ontario, where the additional aircraft are expected to strengthen national SAR capacity.
Alongside the aircraft modernization, the program also includes the introduction of a domestic CH-149 flight simulator, to be supplied by CAE. The simulator will provide dedicated training capacity in Canada, reducing the need for RCAF crews to travel to the UK for recurrent training.
The CH-149 Cormorant is the RCAF’s primary rotary-wing SAR platform and is based on the Leonardo AW101. The three-engine helicopter is designed for long-range missions in demanding environments and can conduct all-weather rescues over land and sea.
For SAR operators, the first flight represents an important step toward fielding a more capable fleet with improved availability, modernized systems, and expanded training capacity to support operations across Canada’s vast SAR regions.
Elsewhere in the sector, NATO member states recently launched an initiative to explore a multinational Airbus A400M fleet that would support strategic airlift, medical evacuation, disaster relief, and other shared air mobility missions.