Bombardier Sells Two More Dash 8 Aircraft for Australian Customs' Coastwatch Service.

TORONTO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 13, 1999--

Bombardier Aerospace (TSE:BBD.A.) (ME:BBD.A.) (TSE:BBD.B.) (ME:BBD.B.) announced today that Surveillance Australia of Adelaide, Australia, a wholly owned division of National Jet Systems Pty. Ltd., has acquired two additional special-mission Dash 8(R) Q200 turboprop aircraft for the COASTWATCH program the company operates on behalf of the Australian Customs Service Coastwatch Program.

The contract covering the aircraft is valued at approximately US $25 million (Cdn $37 million).

The aircraft will be subsequently modified by Field Aviation Inc. of Toronto in May and June 2000 to the COASTWATCH mission configuration. They will be equipped with long range fuel tanks, enlarged windows, a Raytheon SV1022 search radar, a Forward Looking Infra Red (FLIR), and a daytime television camera at two sensor consoles. A comprehensive electronics suite including satellite communications will allow communications with ships at sea and Defence and Customs resources. An integrated laptop computer will be used to record sightings.

The new aircraft will join three other Dash 8 Series 200 aircraft that have been in service with Surveillance Australia since early 1996 from bases at Broome, Darwin and Cairns. The Dash 8 COASTWATCH mission is to patrol the Australian Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) out to a distance of 620 nm (l,100 km) from the coast, searching for illegal fishing, illegal immigrants, narcotics smugglers, marine pollution, quarantine threats, etc. Missions can last up to 91/2 hours. The three current aircraft have flown about 15,000 hours on more than 2,000 missions since their progressive introduction from early 1996.

"The Dash 8 has proven to be an excellent maritime surveillance platform," said Anthony Patterson, general manager of Surveillance Australia. "The aircraft constantly demonstrates high mission efficiency, excellent operational flexibility and absolute acceptance by our client. In all of our studies and experience with civil maritime patrol aircraft, the Dash 8 is by far the best and most cost effective aircraft in its class."

In its COASTWATCH configuration, the Series 200 can transit 300 nm (555 km) at 295 knots, fly a low-level search track of about 1,000 nm (1,851 km) - resulting in 90,000 nm2 (260,000 km2) of coverage per mission, including a number of target identifications, before returning to base with adequate fuel reserves.

Bombardier Aerospace, a unit of Bombardier Inc., is the world's third largest civil aircraft manufacturer with operations in three countries. Leading the 20- to 70-passenger regional carrier market, Bombardier Aerospace offers complete families of turboprop and regional jet aircraft. It has the industry's widest range of business jets, offering both full and fractional ownership, and also produces firefighting/maritime mission aircraft. It provides technical services, aircraft maintenance and pilot training to business, regional airline and military customers.

Bombardier Inc. is a Canadian corporation active in the fields of aerospace, rail transportation equipment, recreational products, financial services and services related to its products and core businesses. It operates plants in 12 countries in North America, Europe and Asia, and more than 90 per cent of its revenues are generated outside Canada. Bombardier's revenues for its fiscal year ended January 31, 1999, totalled Cdn $11.5 billion.

(R) Registered trademark of Bombardier Inc.