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The Lockheed CP-140 Aurora is a Canadian Forces Air Command maritime patrol aircraft (MPA). The aircraft is based on the Lockheed P-3 Orion airframe, but mounts the electronics suite of the S-3 Viking. In Greek mythology, Aurora is the Greek goddess who restored Orion's eyesight, and also the Aurora Borealis are the "northern lights" that are prominent over northern Canada and the Arctic Ocean.

The CP-140A Arcturus is a related variant used primarily for pilot training and coastal surface patrol missions The aircraft were acquired in the early 1980s to replace the CP-107 Argus and to further support Canada's anti-submarine warfare mission obligations under NATO for the northwest Atlantic sector. However, since the end of the Cold War, they had been used primarily in coastal surveillance and sovereignty patrols by providing an all-weather mission surveillance platform. Increasingly as the CP-140 moves into the 21st century it is employed for domestic and international surveillance by CANCOM for security, counter-terrorism and smuggling, as well as to monitor foreign fishing fleets off Canada's coasts. CP-140s have also been deployed on operations such as Operation Assistance and Operation Apollo.

[edit] CP-140A Arcturus

In 1991, Lockheed shut down its production lines in Burbank, California for the P-3 Orion, which shares the same airframe with the CP-140. Three surplus airframes on hand were purchased by Air Command but delivered without the anti-submarine fit. These three aircraft were designated the CP-140A Arcturus and are used primarily for pilot training and coastal surface patrol missions.

Lacking the expensive, heavy and sensitive anti-submarine warfare as well as the anti-surface warfare fittings of the CP-140 Aurora, the Arcturus is more fuel efficient and is used for crew training duties (such as touch-and-go landing practice), general maritime surface reconnaissance (detecting drug operations, smuggling of illegal immigrants, fisheries protection patrols, pollution monitoring, etc), search-and-rescue assistance and Arctic sovereignty patrols. The Arcturus does possess a superior AN/APS-507 surface search radar, incorporating modern functions such as track-while-scan that the Aurora's AN/APS-506 radar lacks.[citation needed]

All three aircraft are based at 14 Wing, one of which is currently being used for training with the school on base CFB Greenwood, Nova Scotia. The CP-140As were scheduled to be deactivated in 2004, but are still very much in active duty as of 2008.

[edit] Aurora Incremental Modernization Project

The Aurora Incremental Modernization Project, initiated in 1998 to upgrade electronics of the Aurora fleet was halted by the government on 20 September 2007 to evaluate whether the aging fleet should continue to be upgraded or replaced by more modern aircraft.[2] On 18 December 2007 the Department of National Defence rescinded this work suspension and will continue with modernization, which includes upgrading computer, navigation, communication and radar systems as well as making structural improvements to ten of eighteen aircraft. The intent of the modernization project is to "keep the aircraft safe and operationally viable until 2020. * Crew: Mission minimum 8, typically 12 to 15
* Capacity: 20
* Length: 35.61 m (116 ft 10 in)
* Wingspan: 30.38 m (99 ft 8 in)
* Height: 10.49 m (34 ft 5 in)
* Loaded weight: 27,892 kg (61,362 lb)
* Powerplant: 4× Allison T-56-A-14-LFE turboprop engines, (4600) each

Performance

* Maximum speed: 750 km/h (405 kt, 462 mph)
* Range: 9,300 km (5,000 nm, 5,737 mi)
* Service ceiling: 10,700 m (35,100 ft)

Armament

* Mk 46 Mod V torpedoes, signal chargers, smoke markers, illumination flares
* air-to-surface missiles or conventional bombs can be fitted after a retrofit.

Avionics

* Sonobuoys, Radar, Electro-Optical/Infrared (EO/IR) suite, Magnetic anomaly detector (MAD), Electronic Support Measures (ESM), fixed 70 mm camera, hand-held digital camera, gyro-stabilized binoculars.