![](/web/20061215093308im_/http://www.airforce.forces.gc.ca/includes/images/pxxxxxx.gif)
|
![](/web/20061215093308im_/http://www.airforce.forces.gc.ca/includes/images/pxxxxxx.gif) |
In order to patrol the world's longest coastline, Canada needs an Aircraft
with some very long legs.
Meet the Aurora, a long-range patrol Aircraft able to fly over 9,000 km/5,000nm
without refueling and Canada's only strategic airborne land and sea surveillance
Aircraft.
Designed
originally for anti-submarine warfare, the Aurora remains capable of detecting
the latest generation of stealthy submarines. But its multi-role capability
means it's also ready to tackle a variety of different missions.
In 1999, during an exhaustive search of the Pacific, Canada's Auroras found
several small boats crowded with illegal migrants. Constant vigilance of the
country's coasts, sometimes in concert with NORAD and the RCMP, has also led
to the capture of vessels and Aircraft smuggling drugs.
During
Operation Assistance, two Auroras flew missions over flood-ravaged southern
Manitoba for two weeks. They photographed flooded areas, monitored radio frequencies
and relayed messages to rescue crews.
Auroras participated in OPERATION APOLLO in the Persian Gulf region from the
fall of 2001 to the summer of 2003, conducting 499 operational sorties as part
of Canada's participation in the campaign against terrorism.
|