Jump to content

Twin Otter with an attitude


Guest

Recommended Posts

Viking Plans World Demonstration Tour for Guardian 400 Twin Otter Special Missions Variant

Provided by Viking Air Limited

Artistic Rendering of Guardian 400 Special Missions VariantPictured above: Artistic rendering of the Guardian 400 Technical Demonstrator aircraft, featuring R/H SCAR pod with Hensoldt Argos EO/IR imaging turret, L/H SCAR pod with Leonardo Osprey Radar System and Sentient Vidar Camera system, Airborne Technologies’ tactical workstation, Viking conformal bubble windows, IKHANA L/H & R/H wing-mounted hard points, Thunder Bay Aviation stretcher racks, and aft lavatory.

Ottawa, Ontario, May 29th, 2019: Today during the CANSEC Defence & Security show, Viking Air Limited of Victoria, British Columbia has announced its plans to hold a world demonstration tour for its Guardian 400 aircraft, the special missions variant of the Viking Series 400 Twin Otter. The world tour will include detailed briefings and demonstration flights in Europe, Africa, Middle East, India, South East Asia, Oceania, and North America.

For the past six months, a production Series 400 Twin Otter has been undergoing modifications to transform into Viking’s Guardian 400 demonstrator aircraft for the proposed world tour. It will feature a right-hand SCAR pod with Hensoldt Argos EO/IR imaging turret, multi-spectral HDTV camera, mega-pixel HD Thermal imager, laser range finder, multi-mode auto tracker, and Remote Image Bus (RIB) video feed for display on the cockpit MFD or crew workstation. The demonstrator will also feature a left-hand SCAR pod with Leonardo Osprey Radar System and Sentient Vidar Camera system.

In addition to its mission sensor package, the Guardian 400 prototype will be equipped with an Airborne Technologies’ tactical workstation with high-definition touchscreen monitors, data/voice/video recorder, Mission Management Unit (MMU), mission radio communications, intuitive hand controller for MCU & SLR camera targeting, CarteNav AIMS mission system software, Kestrel MTI targeting software, and IKHANA ergonomic mission seat for optimized crew comfort. The prototype will also be equipped with Viking conformal bubble windows, left and right wing-mounted hard points by IKHANA, Thunder Bay Aviation stretcher racks, and an aft lavatory for crew comfort.

With a target launch date of September 2019, the Guardian 400 world tour has briefing and demonstration flights proposed throughout Europe, North Africa, Central Africa, Southeastern Africa, the Middle East, Southern Asia, Asia Pacific, North America and will culminate in Ottawa, Canada to coincide with the 2020 CANSEC Defence & Security show.

“As we’ve anticipated development of a Guardian 400 technical demonstrator for many years, to now be able to show off its unique performance capabilities and incredible versatility to interested military and government organizations in their home countries is exciting to say the least,” said Robert Mauracher, Viking executive vice president, Sales & Marketing. “While the tour details are still under development, we encourage interested parties to contact us if they wish to participate in a flight demonstration.”

About the Guardian 400 Twin Otter:

Viking developed the Guardian 400 in response to foreign military and government agency demand for a medium-range maritime patrol, SAR and critical infrastructure platform based on the new Twin Otter Series 400 aircraft. Designed as an economical force multiplier for 21st century surveillance and security requirements, the Guardian 400’s low acquisition and operating costs combined with its modern, flexible architecture allows it to be customized to suit operators’ financial and mission requirements.

The Guardian 400’s robust design, minimal maintenance requirements, and exceptional short-field performance capabilities make it ideally suited for specialized government operations in extreme environments. Certified under the restricted category, the Guardian 400’s increased take-off weight and extended range internal Patrol Tank allow for operational sorties over 10 hours in duration.

Trusted by the governments of Peru, Panama, the United States, United Arab Emirates, and Vietnam, over thirty Twin Otter Guardian 400 aircraft have now entered service in various roles, including maritime surveillance, search & rescue, parachute operations, pipeline monitoring, drug enforcement, medevac, and critical infrastructure support.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My first reaction was a hope for an increased MTOW as Viking refused to leave the 12,500 lb limit behind when the -400 was introduced.

They have indeed increased the MTOW for this variant to 14,000, allowing for increased fuel capacity to enable the extended time airborne in the Specs.

It's role in the field of surveillance will be interesting in its development.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Loved flying the Twin Otter. All wheels and tundra tires but always wanted to try it on floats. So glad Viking has brought it back to life (and the DHC2T) because there are so many places in the world for this particular airplane to find work. It was unfortunate Boeing couldn’t see this back in the 90’s when they owned Dehav and was parked because of the politics of the times. 

In the 1980s, the Government of Canada privatized DHC and in 1986 sold the aircraft company to then Seattle-based Boeing.[2][11] The government claimed to have guarantees from Boeing not to discontinue any product lines, but shortly thereafter, Boeing discontinued both the successful Twin Otter and the Dash 7. The jigs and specialised equipment for their manufacture were destroyed.

Boeing was in heavy competition with Airbus Industrie for a series of new airliners for Air Canada, at that time a Canadian Crown corporation. Boeing used the DHC purchase to further strengthen their commitment to their shared production contracts. The contract was particularly contentious. When Air Canada announced that Airbus had won the contract in 1988, amid claims of bribery, Boeing immediately put DHC up for sale, placing the company in jeopardy.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=De_Havilland_Canada&action=edit&section=18

1E773EBE-C8AA-475F-89BB-E9C55A1A3B18.png

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.



×
×
  • Create New...