A Cormorant by any other name…

by John Thompson

07/28/03

Back in Nazi Germany, one operating principle for Hitler’s government was the "Fuehrerprincipe" — the notion that whatever the leader said was golden, that his authority and judgment was greater than that of all others, and that, of course, der fuehrer incapable of serious error. Behind the façade, the Nazi government was a struggling morass of competing bureaucratic blocs, clashing egos, and rampant inefficiency — starting with the office of Hitler himself.

While all other comparisons between Nazi Germany and contemporary Liberal Canada are inaccurate, insidious and totally unjustified; the Fuehrerprincipe and the illusion/reality of the government’s behavior sound all too familiar.

Back in the early 1960s, the Canadian Armed Forces bought two sets of helicopters. The CH-113 Labrador, a twin-rotored helicopter designed in the mid-1950s, was purchased to provide for Search-and-Rescue (SAR) functions; and after 40 years (and the saving of countless lives), it was long been clear that a replacement was overdue. The other rapidly aging warhorse was the CH-124 Sea King — these had been purchased to provide our destroyers and frigates with a Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) helicopter. While ASW helicopters are designed to help warships hunt and kill submarines, they also can perform far more innocuous missions. Our Sea Kings have carried out thousands of inspections of ships in Canadian waters and have also done valiant service in hundreds of SAR operations too.

In 1986, the Mulroney government decided to select a new helicopter that could replace both the Labrador and the Sea King (both having flown for some 25 years were already overdue for replacement). Having a common platform for both SAR and ASW tasks would represent an enormous saving in training and maintenance, and would enhance the flexibility of our helicopter fleet. After some deliberation, the European Helicopter consortium’s EH-101 design was selected in 1989.

The EH-101 was a superb design for its intended purposes. It is highly reliable, fast, has a longer range and greater flight endurance than its rivals, and displays excellent handling characteristics — ideal (for instance) for hovering steadily in a gale above a sinking ship. Notwithstanding the noble service of the Labradors and Sea Kings, the EH-101 would be able to go further, faster, in worse weather, and more immediately when needed. Our new Frigates also needed the EH-101 and, while Soviet submarines were rapidly becoming a less vital problem, the helicopter would significantly enhance their value in many other missions.

However, Jean Chretien had views on the new helicopter. Picking up on the themes of the Peace Movement, the helicopters were described as "Cold War relics" and "Cadillacs". He swore that if he became PM, the deal would be off. Sure enough… The will of the new leader being manifest, the EH-101 deal was scrubbed in 1993 — despite having paid $1.6 Billion so far, and hundreds of millions more dollars in cancellation penalties. The search for the replacement to the Labrador and the Sea King (now 30 years old) went back to square one.

Public outcry for new helicopters increased with every new crash of the aging Sea Kings, and every tardy Labrador rescue, and — without acknowledging that a mistake had been made — the search for a replacement began anew. Alas, for the government, the Department of National Defence kept returning to the EH-101 as the helicopter best suited for SAR and ASW needs; which then meant that the search criteria were amended again, and yet once more DND would declare their need for the EH-101.

Eventually, a sort of "compromise" was agreed upon… The SAR variant of the EH-101 was renamed the "Cormorant" and a number were ordered — but of course, Ottawa wasn’t buying the evil, expensive unnecessary EH-101, they were buying the Cormorant. Oh, sure, it looked exactly like an EH-101, flew exactly like one, and was made by European Helicopters, but the new SAR helicopters were not EH-101s. The Cormorant is different and Prime Minister is never wrong… Is that clear?

Canada has just received the last of its order of new EH-101s Cormorants to replace the Labradors — 10 years after the order was first (and expensively) cancelled, and 42 years after they first flew. Meanwhile, the Navy is still waiting to see its new ASW helicopters, while still milking the aging Sea Kings for their last ounce of service. While the Sea Kings and Labradors can point to a legacy of heroic rescues and arduous unsung service in difficult circumstances… the same cannot be said of the Prime Minister who treated them and their crews with such contempt.

John Thompson is President of the Mackenzie Institute which studies political instability and terrorism. He can be reached at: mackenzieinstitute@bellnet.ca