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On December 4, 1952 the prototype Grumman Tracker flew for the first time. The Tracker was designed for anti-submarine
warfare (ASW), a role where it would detect submarines then attack them. Trackers utilized passive and active acoustic
search systems and a Magnetic Anomaly Detector (MAD) to find the submarines. The weapons used to attack the subs and
surface vessels included depth charges, torpedoes, bombs and rockets. In the 1960s the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) was
looking for a replacement for their aging Grumman Avengers which were used in the ASW role. The Canadian Government
decided on the Grumman Tracker, and 100 examples were built by deHavilland Canada under license in Downsview, Ontario.
Originally designated CS2F, the Canadian Trackers flew their sub-hunting missions from land bases and the HMCS
Bonaventure. When the Bonaventure was retired, the Trackers flew coastal surveillance missions. Saved by a strong
need for coastal surveillance and fisheries patrol in the early 1970s, the Tracker continued active operation until
April 1991, when the last Tracker was retired.
The Tracker obtained by the Canadian Warplane Heritage is RCN serial number 1577 and construction number 76. It was
accepted by the RCN on December 10, 1959. It was not assigned a new serial number (12177) as most Trackers were when
the Canadian military branches were consolidated as the Canadian Armed Forces in 1968. Instead 1577 was sent to the
Canadian Forces School of Aerospace Technology & Engineering (CTSATE) at Canadian Forces Base Borden on January 14,
1970. At the CTSATE it carried instructional airframe designations A732 and 732B. When the airframe was surplused
and sold into the civil market it was assigned civil registration C-FUDH. The Canadian Warplane Heritage obtained
the airframe in late 1997.
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