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Jun 29 β€’ 4 tweets β€’ 3 min read
πŸ‡¨πŸ‡¦ Latest assessment of CH-149 Cormorant distribution and readiness based on their Mode-S transponder emissions.

Summary:
β€£ 3 at #CFBGreenwood
β€£ 2 at #CFBGander
β€£ 3 at #CFBComox

Meaning, 43% of the #RCAF CH-149 Cormorant helicopters are up on blocks.

#103Sqn #413Sqn #442Sqn
43% laid up and out of commission?

Is that bad?

It's not good.

Thankfully the Cormorant Mid-Life Upgrade is underway, scheduled to be completely finished by 2028, but they haven't awarded the contract yet...
I thought it was Leonardo that couldn't follow basic instructions and misconfigured almost all their transponders in the #RCAF CH-149 Cormorant fleet, but that's none of my business, I could be wrong, and I haven't seen that investigation the RCAF promised either. πŸ€·β€β™‚οΈ
Hopefully the upgrade will include an ADS-B-capable transponder too. It looks like it will from their marketing material.

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More from @steffanwatkins

Steffan Watkins Profile picture
Jun 29
πŸ‡¨πŸ‡¦ In June the #RCAF participated in a Search and Rescue exercise based out of Lajes, in The Azores, and for some reason didn't think the Canadian public wanted to know, so they didn't tell anyone anything.

It might have been part of #ASAREX #ASAREX22 #ASAREX2022, I can't tell.
Here is video, part of the exercise filmed by one of the locals. (h/t @Dapotayto1 for the link!)

[ ⚠️ I INCLUDED IMPRECISE DATA ON PURPOSE ]

I'm unclear when the exercise started or ended, but their call sign suggests they began to prepare in early June

#CFC2127
2022-06-06 Between Greenwood/Summerside
2022-06-15 Over the Bay of Fundy
2022-06-18 To Lajes
2022-06-19 To Lajes
Read 4 tweets
Steffan Watkins Profile picture
Jun 28
πŸ‡¨πŸ‡¦βš“οΈ You tease! There are five (5) CH-148 Cyclone detachments deployed with Royal Canadian Navy Halifax-class ships? Okay, let's enumerate them.
The entire CH-148 fleet uses Mode-S, so we need to use MLAT to geolocate their positions; at sea it's hard to find four receivers to geolocate with MLAT.

globe.adsbexchange.com/?icao=c2b41d,c…
#OpREASSURANCE
#HMCSHalifax 148812 #C2B46D
#HMCSMontreal 148811 #C2B463
Read 9 tweets
Steffan Watkins Profile picture
Jun 24
You know what I haven't seen fly lately? US-registered #N330TT shell company-owned, related to MAG Aerospace. That's the famous ISR King Air that #CANSOFCOM contracted to conduct "training" (with their ADS-B transponder off) over Ottawa.

#A3978A
globe.adsbexchange.com/?icao=a3978a&l… ImageImage
Normal aircraft cannot degrade their transponder emissions and go from using ADS-B (broadcasting their exact location) to simple Mode-S (no location broadcast) only a day apart; it's a signature of a spook plane, and I thank them for a great example of one
globe.adsbexchange.com/?icao=a3978a&l… Image
Here we see what ISR training looks like, hours of precise orbits around a target. They're using Mode-S, so the jaggy lines are from multilateration slop; their flight path is actually very smooth, the jaggies are just a sensor anomaly.

globe.adsbexchange.com/?icao=a3978a&l… Image
Read 6 tweets
Steffan Watkins Profile picture
May 4
πŸ‡¨πŸ‡¦ It should be pretty easy to prove the American-registered ISR aircraft conducting surveillance over Ottawa in late January and early February was not related to the convoy. A course plan? Any documentation re: booking the training?
(Skip ahead to 35:03)
A timeline of the "trucker" occupation of Ottawa from CTV πŸ‘‡
ctvnews.ca/canada/freedom…
2022-01-25
#N330TT appears out of nowhere over Metcalf at 3000ft, lands at #YOW; it made it that far without being detected by open source flight trackers. That's suspicious; private aircraft can't do that.
We know now it's a spook plane, not just private.
globe.adsbexchange.com/?icao=a3978a&l…
Read 28 tweets
Steffan Watkins Profile picture
May 4
πŸ‡¨πŸ‡¦ The Royal Canadian Air Force participated in #ExREDFLAG 22-1 at #EielsonAFB, Alaska at the end of April. Did we see that when it happened?

The pictures weren't posted until today because OPSEC? πŸ€”

I don't recall the #RCAF mentioning it at all; do you?
dvidshub.net/image/7172031/…
#401Sqn flies out of #4WingColdLake, we should see a refueller between the Alaska and Cold Lake around there. Possibly additional logistics flights for support staff.

FYI, I often do these threads without looking up if I can find something so you can see how the sausage is made.
If I start looking for where RCAF tankers were on 2022-04-01, we see the return flight by #4WingColdLake fighters from California, where they spend most of the winter because Cold Lake is.. well.. it's Cold, yo!

Notice they're using AR-4B to refuel on 2022-04-02.
#CFC3329
Read 11 tweets
Steffan Watkins Profile picture
May 3
πŸ‡¨πŸ‡¦ I wonder why? πŸ€”
Oh, that's why

Make a list, check it twice.

Never forget.

Read 8 tweets

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