MARSS: Quasi-Civilian Spy Plane Service Ordered by Pentagon, Canada

Photo: RC-7B "Crazy Hawk"

http://www.defenseindustrydaily.com/Telfords-Dash-7s-to-Supplement-Military-Surveillance-04947/

Dec 8/09: A $12.3 million firm-fixed-price contract to provide MARSS –
Canada Systems integration and logistics support for 2 King Air 300
commercial aircraft provided by Canada. This effort is currently
funded at 49% of the not-to-exceed price, until the contract can be
finalized. Work is to be performed in Hagerstown, MD (75%), and
Afghanistan (25%), with an estimated completion date of June 15/11.
One sole source bid was solicited with one bid received by the CECOM
Acquisition Center in Fort Monmouth, NJ, acting on behalf of its
foreign customer (W12P7T-07-C-W009).

The US military has planes like F-22A stealth fighters that make a lot
of news. It also has planes that make very little news, even though
they play key roles in a number of conflicts around the world. One
example is the RC-7B/EO-5B "Crazy Hawk"/ Airborne Reconnaissance Low
aircraft, who use their short-field takeoff capabilities and array of
imaging, signals collection, and radar sensors to monitor developments
on the ground. The RC-7B made the news briefly in 1999 when one went
down in Colombia, and again when the US military had to cancel the $8
billion ACS (Aerial Common Sensor) replacement program in 2006 and
start over in 2008. Meanwhile, the situation in Afghanistan and Iraq
is well suited to planes like the Dash-7 derived RC-7Bs.