Canadian Sea King replacement From 1983 onward attempts were made to replace the aging Sikorsky CH - 124 Sea King helicopters of the Royal Canadian Navy . Due to a series of financial and political issues , the process was hampered by repeated delays . In the end the CH - 148 Cyclone , a new version of the Sikorsky H - 92 Superhawk was selected . Background . In 1983 , the Department of National Defence began issuing contracts for the " Sea King Replacement Project " . However , the contracts were not intended to replace the CH - 124 , then reaching its 20th birthday in Canadian Forces service , but instead were meant to develop new avionics for an unknown new helicopter type to replace the Sea King in CF service . However , by the mid - 1980s , the Canadian Forces slowly started to regard the Sea Kings as being too small for its intended anti - submarine warfare role due to the ever increasing size and amount of anti - submarine warfare gear being required . As such , the " New Shipboard Aircraft Project " was initiated by the Progressive Conservative government led by Brian Mulroney in 1985 to find a replacement for the Sea King . Selecting the EH - 101 . In 1986 , the NSA entered its project definition phase – ‘ Solicitations of Interest ’ from industry were requested in April 1986 . Three contenders were singled out as possible replacement for the Sea King : Sikorsky ' s S - 70 SeaHawk ( designated SH - 60 Seahawk by the US Navy ) , Aérospatiale ’ s AS332F Super Puma and finally , AgustaWestland ' s new EH - 101 , of which the latter was purposely designed to be a Sea King replacement . However , in a surprise move , Sikorsky then withdrew from the contest , because the SeaHawk was seen by the CF as too small , and furthermore the Sikorsky was competing with its own interests , having bought part of troubled Westland Helicopters , which was offering the EH - 101 . Aérospatiale in the middle of the contest then tipped its hand by suddenly redubbing its offering as the AS532 Cougar . Many considered the rebranding a previously successful product smacks of desperation , as sales of the AS332F were anything but brisk at the time . In 1987 , the Mulroney government announced the purchase of 35 EH - 101 helicopters to replace the CH - 124 Sea King . However , by the end of the 1980s , the CF had another problem at its hands ; the fleet of CH - 113 Labrador search - and - rescue helicopters needed replacing . In 1991 , the Mulroney government tacked on CH - 113 Labrador replacement to the purchase , in effect merging the New Shipboard Aircraft Project and the New SAR Helicopter Project . Such a move had economic benefits including the lower unit price per aircraft and for spare parts which accompany larger orders . The training of maintenance personnel and flight crews is simplified . However , such a move also increased the total costs of the program ; now up to C $ 5 . 8 billion for 50 helicopters ( broken down into 35 ASW Sea King replacements and 15 SAR types , dubbed CH - 148 Petrel for the former , and CH - 149 Chimo for the latter ) . However , the country at the time was in no position to be spending billions of dollars , as the government was facing a mounting deficit , and growing unemployment . In 1993 , the new leader of the Progressive Conservative Party , Kim Campbell , in an attempt to deflect mounting criticism from the population over the unexpectedly large purchase price announced that the actual order was being reduced to 28 Petrels and 15 Chimos , reducing the purchase price down to C $ 4 . 4 billion . However , the political damage was done , and it did not help Tory creditability that when Campbell suggested that an ASW capability could be vital if submarines were used to run the blockade of Haiti , as the very idea that submarines might run this blockade in support of the Haitian junta was absurd . The Liberal leader , Jean Chrétien then the leader of the Opposition , had disparagingly referred to the EH - 101 ( CH - 149 Cormorant ) as a " Cadillac " during a time of government restraint and deficit fighting . Terminating the new helicopters was one of the top priorities in the party ' s election platform for the federal election . Political delays . Following a change of government in October 1993 , the incoming Liberal Party ordered the Canadian Forces to immediately cancel the entire order , forcing the payment of cancellation fees of C $ 500 million . By not purchasing the helicopters and slashing the DND budget , the government hoped to trim the deficit and become more fiscally responsible . But by canceling the New Shipboard Aircraft Project outright , the new Liberal government left itself with very little room to maneuver , as during the 1990s the Sea Kings ' air frames , engines and avionics systems slowly but steadily became dated and obsolete as the Sea King entered its 30th year of service . The Sea Kings still needed replacing , but no alternative or contingency plan was offered . Some have noted that the decision to simply cancel the NSA contract in the end did not turn out to be very fiscally responsible of the government at the time . Chrétien one time famously retorted during a debate that the President of the United States still flew in a Sea King , so that helicopter was still good for the Canadian Armed Forces . In the end , events unfolded to force the government ' s hand on the matter . By the mid 1990s each Sea King required over 30 man - hours of maintenance for every hour of flying time , a figure described by the Canadian Naval Officers Association as ' grossly disproportionate ' . Furthermore , the helicopters are unavailable for operations 40 % of the time and due to the fact that the airframes are 10 – 15 years older than other Sea Kings flying in allied air forces , AIRCOM is frequently forced to have spare parts custom - made as Sikorsky ' s supplies are either overly expensive or no longer in production . AIRCOM ' s Sea Kings are now widely perceived as unreliable , outdated and expensive to maintain , by observers both inside and outside the Canadian Forces . On February 27 , 2003 , when HMCS " Iroquois " was deploying to the Arabian Sea , a Sea King crashed within moments of takeoff , and the picture of the helicopter lying on its side on the destroyer ' s landing pad was embarrassing . Late that year , the entire fleet was grounded ( except for essential operations ) for several weeks after two aircraft coincidentally lost power within a few days of each other . When it subsequently became clear that new helicopters were still desperately needed to replace AIRCOM ' s CH - 124 Sea King fleet , the Liberal government began a slow , tortured procurement process that critics have accused of being deliberately tailored to prevent the EH - 101 from being chosen as a candidate . One problem was that the government continued to tweak the terms of the new Sea King replacement project , dubbed the " Maritime Helicopter Project " . The project was divided into two sections , with distinct airframe and integrated mission systems components . The two - parts decision was attacked from all sides ; opponents insisted that separating the major MHP components would only serve to drive up total costs . Public Works insistence on “ lowest - cost compliant ” bids did not help the situation any further . Candidates to the new Maritime Helicopter Project consisted of Sikorsky ' s S - 92 Superhawk , NHIndustries NH - 90 , and finally , AgustaWestland ' s EH - 101 . In December 2002 , the new Minister of National Defence , John McCallum , reversed that ill - considered ‘ two - part ’ approach , deciding “ to proceed with a single contract rather than two ” . However , this decision was criticized again , by the same industry types and defence pundits who had attacked the earlier decision to split the MHP contest into separate airframe and integrated mission systems parts , as it forced the procurement to restart . The Liberal government continued the leisurely pace of the project despite several high profile and embarrassing Sea King crashes . It soon became clear that the policy - makers were waiting for Jean Chrétien to retire . However , until December 2003 , the only question was : who would last longer . When Chrétien finally retired in December 2003 , the new Prime Minister , Paul Martin , made replacing the Sea Kings a top priority within the DND . A spending freeze was applied to all other major DND projects , except for the Maritime Helicopter Project . Furthermore , tenders were being issued on December 17 , 2003 for a selection of a Sea King replacement . The DND subsequently decided that the NH - 90 was non compliant with their MHP requirement and this helicopter was eliminated from the contest , despite rumours that the NH - 90 had all but won the contest a few months before . The NH - 90 ' s apparent reversal of favour might also be seen as being politically motivated , as Canada was keen on improving industrial relations with France . Other factors indicated that the DND had valid reasons of its own to reject the NH - 90 – size , which had influenced the project from the outset . Selecting the H - 92 . In July 2004 , it was announced that the Sea Kings will be replaced by the new Sikorsky H - 92 Superhawk , carrying a General Dynamics mission package , with the first of 28 CH - 148 Cyclone s scheduled for delivery in 2008 . Problems at Sikorsky have resulted in deliveries being delayed until 2010 ; allowing time for testing and training , the aircraft is not to enter service until 2013 . Further delays resulted in expected delivery pushed to 2015 , with only 4 interim training aircraft delivered as of 2013 , and not full - spec aircraft , which have not been accepted for testing . Sikorsky have disputed claims that the four interim aircraft lack the capability to be used for testing . In September 2013 , the Canadian government announced that they were reevaluating the CH - 148 purchase , and would consider cancelling the contract and ordering different helicopters if that were the better option . As of September 2013 , Sikorsky has accrued over $ 88 million in late damages , and needed to be given a 43 - month delivery date reprieve , since 2008 .