Military gets drones, used choppers
OTTAWA - Canadian troops battling Taliban militants in Afghanistan will get the helicopter support they've sought since 2006 in a complicated arrangement involving a commercial contractor and the U.S. Army.
Defence Minister Peter MacKay and Public Works Minister Christian Paradis formally announced Thursday that Canada will buy six used CH-47D Chinooks from the Americans for $292 million.
The plan is virtually identical to a proposal that was rejected by air force staff in August 2006, according to documents obtained by The Canadian Press.
Before the Chinooks arrive in Kandahar early next year, just under the wire for the February 2009 deadline imposed by the Manley commission, the air force plans to lease six Soviet-style helicopters from a commercial company for $36 million.
Those helicopters, Russian-built Mi-8s, will be available for one year, starting this fall and will take Canadian soldiers off the bloody, bomb-laced roads of Kandahar
"After some dark years after previous governments starved our Forces, as the prime minister has announced with much enthusiasm, we're happy to say that Canada is back and I'm proud to make this announcement today in support of that claim," MacKay told an audience at an air base in Hubert, Que.
Parliament's extension of Canada's combat mission to 2011 came with two major equipment caveats - helicopters and unmanned surveillance aircraft.
The short-term lease of Russian helicopters from Toronto-based Skylink and the purchase of U.S. Army Chinooks, already in theatre, will not affect the air force's long-term, $4.2-billion plan to buy 16 brand new CH-47F Chinooks, MacKay said.
In addition, the Defence Department will spend $109 million on two separate leases of unmanned surveillance aircraft.
Getting to Thursday's helicopter announcement has been a tortured bureaucratic exercise.
The internal debate has pitted the army, frantic to reduce soldiers' exposure to deadly roadside bombs, against a frustrated air force that's demanded it get a versatile aircraft, useful in more places than just Afghanistan.
The Conservative government announced in June 2006 that it would buy 16 new medium-to-heavy-lift helicopters, a decision rushed forward after Canada's battle-group commander in Kandahar said aircraft support was an urgent requirement.
Since deploying to southern Afghanistan, soldiers have hitched rides on the helicopters of other nations, when they were available.
The Boeing-manufactured Chinook was quickly identified as the chopper of choice by the air force and the federal government began sole-source contract negotiations.
But the whole process came to a screeching halt in August 2006 as defence planners debated what kind of missions the choppers would do and the equipment that needed to be built into the aircraft.
The air force said the CH-47F - the latest Chinook model - was the most versatile choice, but planners realized back then that it would 2011 at the earliest before they could be delivered.
The leased Russian helicopters will come from Toronto-based Skylink Aviation Inc., will be upgraded to include a defensive system and will come with their own pilots, Defence officials said.
The federal government has also stipulated the Mi-8s, a 1960s vintage design, be no more than five years old.
Canadian air force pilots are currently training in the U.S. to fly the Chinooks.
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