Jul 29 2010
Lockheed Martin delivered the first of 10 new Mid-Life Upgrade (MLU) outer wings on July 28 for installation on a CP-140 Aurora for the Government of Canada. These wings will be installed by IMP Aerospace, a Lockheed Martin P-3 service center located in Halifax, Nova Scotia.
Canada operates a fleet of 18 CP-140 Aurora aircraft playing a critical role in search and rescue, littoral/overland surveillance, economic zone and shipping lane protection, submarine detection and anti-terrorism. The aircraft are based on the P-3 Orion airframe.
The MLU program replaces the outer wings, center wing lower surface, horizontal stabilizer and horizontal stabilizer leading edges with all new material. All necessary fatigue-life limiting structure is replaced and new alloys are used with a five-fold increase in corrosion resistance to provide significantly reduced maintenance and sustainment costs. The MLU will extend the structural service life of the CP-140 up to 15,000 hours and adds 20 years of operational use.
"The Government of Canada's MLU program reinforces our commitment to support the CP-140s for the long-term," said Ray Burick, Lockheed Martin P-3 Program vice president. "We are also proud to partner with IMP Aerospace for the installation of the MLU on the Auroras."
"As Canada's CP-140 In Service Support contractor, IMP is very pleased to continue our long-term partnership with Lockheed Martin, while upgrading this critical and strategic fleet for the Canadian Forces," said David Gossen, president of IMP Aerospace.
The all-new production wings are the cornerstone of the P-3 MLU program. Lockheed Martin has 52 MLU kits under contract with six operators from four nations. To date, a total of nine MLU kits have been delivered to the U.S. Navy, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Norway, Canada and Taiwan.
Source: http://www.lockheedmartin.com/