Fixed Wing Fisheries Surveillance
The P3K Orion best approximates the aircraft flying at 12,000 feet. Capable of flights up to 21 hours with a (ferry) range of 5,000 nautical miles and a maximum speed of 413 knots this highly capable aircraft presents our base case in terms of capital and operating costs ($164m p/a). The P3K is designed for anti submarine warware and kiwi crews have successfully won the Fincastle Trophy for ASW exercises on a number of occassions. Based on the antiquated Lockheed Electra airframe it is however a very old aircraft which cannot be expected to last until 2030 (the study period).
The United States and probably Australia are replacing their fleets of P-3 Orions with the P-8 Multi-Mission Aircraft. It is important to note however here that both the US and Australia are still very firmly seeking an anti-submarine warfare aircraft. This military scenario seems to be very difficult to justify at a time when most hostilities are with terrorist forces which embed themselves in civilian infrastructure rather than investing billions developing expensive military submarines.
The P-8 Poesidon will be based on the Boeing 737-800 jet liner. The aircraft will be equipped with a suite of sophisticated radar and anti-submarine warfare systems including anti-shipping missiles. The P-8 will have an extended range over the normal 737 and be able to remain in search mode for around ten hours. The total fleet of over 100 P-8's is budgeted to cost US$9 billion with an average (as opposed to marginal) unit cost of US$185 million.
This system can be largely discounted on the grounds of cost. Another costly system, also being tyre-kicked by the Australians is the 737 "Wedgetail" Aircraft Early Warning radar system. This is the latest replacement for the AWACS the US originally mounted on a 707 jet liner.
An alternative would be to use an old 737 passenger aircraft (of which there is a plentiful supply) and install the Orion's systems aboard it. There are two problems with this. The first is that a standard 737 is built with a pressurised cabin so converting it to drop stores from an internal cargo bay could be more complex than it might seem. Secondly (and more crucially) the older 737s are not the most economical platform for the job given limited future flying life and have, at an average 2,200 nautical miles, barely sufficient range. This is not to say the newer 737 is not a contender but even the latest generation have a relatively short range and at over US$50 million a copy, are expensive.
The Japanese Defence Agency has contracted Kawasaki Heavy Industries to develop a completely new maritime patrol aircraft currently designated P-X. The aircraft share components with the C-X transport aircraft Kawasaki is also building. The aircraft begins production sometime in the near future.
Sharing development between a maritime patrol aircraft and a transport aircraft is very very sensible, as would purchasing aircraft with inter-changable support and componentry. Unfortunately for the moment Japan's Constititution hinders it from arms exports so the P-X is not for sale.
If it were it is not clear this would indeed be the right aircraft. Like the P-3 the P-X is built as a submarine hunter. It will have a range of 4,350 nm which is certainly excellent and it will have the ability to dump a load of weaponry but it will almost certainly be expensive and built for the purpose of patrolling the Sea of Japan looking for Chinese submarines.
Adapted Business Jets
Although large for a business jet the Airbus A319CJS or Boeing Business Jets are another possible platform. The 319ACJ is slightly smaller than a 737 but looks similar. Airbus has extended the range of the normal A319 by adding modular (and removable) fuel tanks which are carried in the cargo hold. These tanks hold enough fuel to extend the aircraft's range to 6,500 nautical miles. For a new aircraft one would expect to pay US$45-50 million for a "green" airframe but after the electronics have been installed by specialists such as Ericsson or Israel Aircraft Industries one wouldn't expect any change out of $80 million. There is still, however the problem of the pressurised cabin and hold. The P3 Orion drops radios to SAR targets and can also drop a wide range of munitions. To reconfigure the ACJ or BBJ to drop stores would defeat the purpose of using a commercial off-the-shelf airframe.
Another consideration is that in terms of relative performance compared to other aircraft the 319 and BBJ are no stand-outs. Although it is not a large part of the specification the capability of this aircraft to intercept 911 style hijackers should not be forgotten. If it were ever necessary to shoot down a commercial passenger jet ( for example if it were carrying some form of uncontainable new plague) all that would be needed would be an aircraft with a cannon pod (reasonably easy to retrofit to standard hardpoints) and the ability to catch a commercial jetliner. This of course requires some speed advantage otherwise the jetliner could easily escape.
The use of modified business jets for surveillance goes back to Israel, India and Denmark. Denmark has a flight of Challenger MMA business jets which carry electronic surveillance equipment and are also used for VIP and medevac purposes.
The Brazilian P-99 based on the Embraer ERJ-145 regional jet has caused something of a stir lately by offering a high tech combination of Ericsson ERIEYE synthetic aperture radar (which can detect a fishing boat at 450km) on a relatively low capital cost and low operations cost platform (reportedly US$2.5m p.a). The major drawback of this system, however, is it has a relatively short range (1,300 nM). Far shorter than the P3K Orion. Given that the round trip from the Kermadec's to Campbell Island past the Chathams is 3,700 nautical miles this must be considered the bare minimum acceptable range requirement with the greater range the better. While the ERJ-145 may not be the right platform for New Zealand other nations, notably the Danes, Indians and the Israelis, have made use of business jets for maritime patrol tasks.
Gulfstream has even sold a version of its ultra long range G550 business jet as a maritime patrol aircraft to the US Coastguard designated C-37. It also has plans for the EC-37 with the latest in electronic signals intelligence gathering equipment. The G550 has a range of 5,800 nautical miles, flies to 51,000 feet with up to two tonnes of payload and a maximum speed of Mach 0.85.
The British are adapting the Bombardier Global Express to carry the battlefield observation radar system ASTOR along similar lines. These business jets offer very low operating costs, extremely long ranges (to 6,750 nautical miles), high altitude flight (at 50,000) and the ability to carry synthetic aperture radar with resolutions (in spot scanning mode) down to 1m on the surface or (in scanning mode) 3m on the surface. Synthetic Aperture radar can penetrate clouds allowing an aircraft to fly past large bodies of empty ocean before focusing on unusual returns or other data.
High altitude aircraft could also play an important role in climate change research by taking air samples while flying over the Pacific and Antarctic.
As shown by the P-99 they can also be fitted with hardpoints to drop items ranging from weapons to supply packs. The aircraft cost around US$35 million each with adaptions adding US$25-35 million to the final bill. However the most important feature of this system is that because of its high speed and wide footprint fewer aircraft are needed to perform the same task as the P3. The aircraft are best used for the deep water fishery.
Dassault Aviation's Falcon 7x has a "glass" cockpit and flight management system derived from the Rafaele carrier fighter.
a business cabin lay-out
The aircraft with the lowest base cost (US$41M) and best performance in this class is the French Dassault Falcon 7x. This aircraft can fly up to 5,750 nautical miles but has a maximum speed of Mach 0.9 and a ceiling of 51,000 feet.
Dassault has already developed a shorter range Maritime Patrol Aircraft based on the Falcon 900.
This aircraft has operational range of 1,200 nautical miles plus three hours of patrol time.
In all cases business jets do have a problem with weaponry. The average air-to-surface missile weighs 250kg while anti-aircraft missiles weigh as much as a passenger at 90kg each.
Twin Turboprop
If one limits ones objectives solely to fisheries security and coastguard duties rather than Pacific wide patrol a range of aircraft present themselves.
The Spanish (was CASA now under European Aerospace and Defence Systems) have adapted their CN-235 light transport to the Maritime Patrol role in association with the Indonesians. With a range around 2,700 nautical miles and a cruise speed of 170 knots this aircraft ( or its larger sibling the CN-295 pictured here with a 3,000 nM range ) is perfectly adapted for the fisheries surveillance role and was selected by the US Coast Guard, among numerous other forces, for medium range surveillance. With a loiter operational time of 10 hours it flies at a low altitude with enough room for surveillance systems, weapons and the ability to drop liferafts etc if need-be. At an average airframe (but not fit-out) cost of around $US$26 million the aircraft is far cheaper than the P3.
If the aircraft has any deficiencies they are that one would need a lot of aircraft to cover our EEZ thoroughly. The aircraft does not have the range ( 5,000 nM) of the Orion and has only two engines instead of four. Effectively one could consider this an "inshore" fisheries surveillance aircraft for operating up to 200 nautical miles from land. This means it could not cover our EEZ in the far North (Kermadecs) or deep South, but could cover the Chatham Rise if based on the islands themselves.
The Swedish aircraft manufacturer SAAB has developed its regional airliner the SAAB 2000 to mount the Ericsson ERIEYE airborne early warning system which is a synthetic aperture radar capable of scanning the sea surface. The SAAB 2000 has a range of 1,500 nautical miles at a speed of 300 knots.
Bombardier offers its DASH-8 regional passenger aircraft for maritime surveillance duties as well. The DASH-8 is attractive for its low operating costs and is used for coastal surveillance over North western Australia but only has a range of 1,300 nautical miles being built for short passenger hops. However the DASH-8 is used as the platform for Tenix's LADS airborne laser hydrology and bathometry service which uses a laser to map below the water surface to a depth of "over 70 metres". This would be particularly useful in response to civil disasters when tsunami or earthquake have led to changes in normal waterways.
Amphibians
Smaller and much cheaper than the CL415 is the Viking Twin Otter. This design has been around since 1965 but production has recently been restarted. The aircraft only has a maximum (one-way) range of 920 nautical miles but is probably quite capable of stooging around for considerable periods. At US$3.2 million this aircraft makes for an attractive inshore maritime patrol aircraft.
The Japanese firm Shinmaya and the Ukrainian firm Beriev offers more intriguing models. The ShinMaywa P-1 (left) has carried out 538 successful rescues for the Japanese coastguard and in recent years the company has dusted off its design and again started seeking business. A new version the US-2 will have a range of around 2,000 nautical miles and a maximum speed of 300 knots. It is not clear how much these aircraft will cost but they are unlikely to be cheap.
The Ukranian firm Beriev has been promoting its B200 jet amphibian around the Pacific in recent years. With a relatively fast flight speed of 500 knots and a range of around 1200 nautical miles the aircraft is targeted at competing with the Bombardier firefighting market. On the face of it there is nothing really wrong with this aircraft but there seems to be a level of desperation on Beriev's part which makes people anxious about its future.
This is evidenced by Beriev's developing ever larger amphibian designs, such as the P10 using contra-rotating turbofan props with a speed of 500 knots and a range of 3000 nautical miles. This aircraft is based on the jet powered p40 "Mermaid" but these aircraft have never entered production and would probably have hideous operating costs.
The main reason for rejecting amphibians for intervention in high seas is that they require extremely calm conditions to land and take off again. The Shinmaya and the B200 can cope with chop of no more than 1 metre while the limit for the gas guzzling P10 is a relatively mild 2 metre swell. Given that 3m swells are common when vessels need assistance there is no real benefit in amphibian aircraft for rescue purposes.
Very Light Aircraft
If one simply wants an aircraft to act as an "eye-in-the-sky" then the amount of special equipment required may be considerably reduced. In fact a very small aircraft equipped with a telescopic Forward Looking Infra-Red camera, and a suitable laptop to record and enhance the imagery would be sufficient.
FLIR systems (fitted here under the prop of a light aircraft) are typically fitted to very small helicopters and fixed wing aircraft. One obvious candidate for the aircraft platform for such a system would be the New Zealand built Pacific Aerospace XL750.
This aircraft costs around US$1 million and has excellent short-take off and landing characteristics with an endurance of around five hours. However it was designed to be a parachuting platform and its range is limited to 500 nautical miles. With a single engine it would also be inadvisable for such an aircraft to patrol long distances out to sea.
Another option is the new generation of very light business jets. Very light business jets are a car-sized jet aircraft with very low operating costs. Examples include the Cessna Citation Mustang (pictured above), the Embraer Phenom 100 (yet to achieve FAA certification) and the Eclipse E500. These aircraft carry no more than four to six passengers to a range of 1,100 nM at a speed of around 350 knots. Prices are around US$2.7-3m. These aircraft are also extremely quiet.