Seaspray
5000E is a class-leading airborne surveillance radar ideally suited
to search and rescue work. In addition to its high reliability, compact
size and ease of use, the radar’s unique AESA technology-enabled
‘small target detection’ capability were critical discriminators
in its selection. The Seaspray 5000E has already been delivered to another
customer for search and rescue operations on Challenger aircraft and
is in service with a third customer on the Sikorsky S-92 SAR helicopter.
Its bigger sibling, the Seaspray 7500E, is in service on search and
rescue duties with the US Coast Guard’s fleet of C-130 long range
maritime patrol aircraft. Seaspray radars are developed and manufactured
at Selex ES’s Edinburgh plant in Scotland.
Cobham was awarded the prime contract by AMSA to provide an airborne
SAR capability through open industry competition for 12 years from August
2016, when the current contract expires. They will acquire, modify,
commission and then operate and maintain four Challenger CL-604 special
mission jet aircraft to provide a SAR capability over land and at sea
from bases in Cairns, Melbourne and Perth. The aircraft will be available
for SAR tasking by AMSA at short notice 24 hours a day, seven days a
week.
Australia has an internationally respected search and rescue (SAR) service.
The country is responsible for covering one of the largest areas in
the world – about one tenth of the earth’s surface including
some 53 million square kilometres of ocean. The Australian Maritime
Safety Authority (AMSA) utilises aircraft to perform SAR tasks such
as searching for missing people, locating activated distress beacons,
providing communications support at an incident and dropping survival
equipment to people in distress. |
