Mary-Louise Hoffman
A Boeing aircraft designed for coastal search and rescue, anti-piracy and border security applications took its maiden test flight on Friday.
Boeing partner Field Aviation launched the maritime surveillance aircraft from Pearson International Airport in Toronto under a demonstration project, Boeing said Wednesday.
The multi-mission MSA was derived from the Bombardier Challenger 604 business jet platform, according to Boeing.
“We accomplished everything we set out to achieve,” said Craig Tylski, a Field Aviation pilot.
“The aerodynamic performance was right on the money and even with the additional aerodynamic shapes, such as the radome, the demonstrator performed like a normal aircraft,” Tylski added.
Boeing says the demonstrator is also built with systems used in the P-8A Poseidon plane.
MSA features include an active phased array radar, a communications intelligence sensor and an automated identification technology.
