Today I got to cover a briefing of the Boeing Maritime Surveillance Aircraft (MSA) which made a stop in Ottawa. We were given a quick briefing on Boeings presence in Canada and then the capabilities of the aircraft itself. This was followed by a tour of the aircraft where we couldn’t take pictures until the consoles where powered down.
The MSA is, for all intents and purposes, a Challenger 605 with customized avionics and a radar pod. It can be customized to several different roles in two hours should it be needed as a business jet, med evac, or other uses. It’s big sales pitch is that this is not a development aircraft but a tried and tested platform with avionics packages that are ready to go now.
It can cruise at 41000 ft, top speed is 459 knots, and can stay airborne more than 8 hours in maritime or ISR roles. The avionics packages are currently part of the P-8A program so development is done. As well, the Challenger is built in Canada.
An amusing note is that the consoles for the various roles has a very unique controller: an Xbox controller. That’s right – Xbox. Should your controller go unserviceable, just stop by your local Best Buy and pick up a new one.
The day was so warm that as we were taking the briefing inside the aircraft that a fog developed on the floor from condensation (see photo).
To see all the pictures, including the presentations CLICK HERE
