This article was last updated on April 16, 2022
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The Defence Minister of Canada, Peter MacKay, mentioned in news conference on Tuesday in Ottawa that it is not his fault that even after more than a decade of progress and intent to buy a new search-and-rescue plane, the military is still not even a step further to flying one. MacKay alleged that “I will express to you … no small degree of frustration that we have not been able to move this project forward.” Furthermore, MacKay revealed that “what I can tell you is that we are pushing very hard to have this procurement proceed. We need the support of the other departments to do this.”
The official program of buying new search planes was initially started in 2002. It was aimed at substituting the older Buffalo aircraft, which are liked by pilots for their slow, steady flight during searches, and their agility in tight quarters, like the mountains of western Canada. Whereas, these new planes were also planned to replace several older models of C-130 Hercules aircraft that are being used for search and rescue in central and northern Canada. In both the cases, planes are becoming even older and will be unserviceable sooner than before.
MacKay clearly pointed out that “not unlike the Sea Kings, we have aging Buffalo aircraft that need to be replaced, that are difficult to get parts for, that require a high proportion of service hours for every hour of flight.” When inquired why Canada hasn’t been able to acquire new planes, MacKay dodged the question, by saying “that’s a good question,” and repeating that “it remains a top priority to have fixed-wing capability.”
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