The government of Canada will spend C$11.2 billion ($8.1 billion) to modernise the country’s military trainer fleet.
Ottawa on 29 May said it has finalised a contract covering 71 new trainer aircraft across five different types to support the development of new aviators for the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF). The 25-year deal with SkyAlyne, a joint venture between CAE and KF Aerospace, also covers training services starting in 2029.
“This particular investment will bolster our ability to train a sufficient number of qualified aircrews to meet our operational requirements,” Ottawa says.
The new aircraft include single- and multi-engined turboprops, as well as helicopters, to be procured under the Future Aircrew Training (FAcT) programme, which will replace existing RCAF training contracts with CAE and Allied Wings set to expire in 2028.
Canadian defence minister Bill Blair revealed the new acquisitions at the annual CANSEC defence industry trade show in Ottawa.
“Today’s investments demonstrate that when we work collaboratively with Canadian industry partners, we can provide our troops with the tools that they need to do their jobs – and support good jobs right across Canada,” Blair says.
Among the new aircraft will be the Grob Aircraft G120TP and Pilatus PC-21 single-engined turboprops, Beechcraft King Air 260 and De Havilland Canada Dash 8-400 twin-engined turboprops and the Airbus Helicopters H135 light helicopter.
In response to an inquiry from FlightGlobal, the headquarters of the Canadian armed forces says the FAcT aircraft orders will include 23 G120 turboprops for basic flight training, 19 PC-21s for jet-powered and fixed-wing advanced flight training, 19 H135s for rotary-wing advanced flight training and seven King Air 260s for multi-engined advanced flight training. Three new Dash 8-Q400s will be used for advanced training of airborne mission systems operators.
Under the FAcT contract, SkyAlyne will acquire the new aircraft on behalf of the Canadian government, which will retain ultimate ownership.
Those five fleets will be used to progress flight trainees toward frontline service units. Ottawa says RCAF personnel will subsequently receive type-specific instruction at those squadrons using operational aircraft, including fighter, transport, surveillance and rotary-wing varieties.
Pilots, air combat systems officers and airborne electronic systems operators will begin receiving instruction from SkyAlyne under the FAcT contract in the spring of 2029. The curriculum will include classroom, simulator and flight instruction, according to Ottawa.
“We must modernise our training systems as we are modernising our front-line equipment and weapons systems”, says RCAF commander Lieutenant-General Eric Kenny, “to ensure Royal Canadian Air Force personnel can operate and win in highly contested and increasingly complex theatres of operation”.
Notably, one modernisation not covered in the latest procurement announcement is a replacement for the RCAF’s BAE Systems Hawk 115 jet trainers.
Canada retired its fleet of 17 Hawks in March, after just 24 years of service. Ottawa is still developing a programme to replace that single-engined type, with the goal of preparing future trainees to fly Canada’s planned fleet of 88 Lockheed Martin F-35A stealth fighters.
In the absence of a new jet trainer, prospective Canadian fighter pilots will attend training overseas with various NATO allies, including the USA, Finland and Italy. A small number of RCAF instructor pilots will also be stationed abroad to assist in the effort, under an existing NATO partnership programme.
Ottawa is in the midst of what the government describes as the largest recapitalisation of the RCAF since the Second World War, including the new F-35 fighters, Boeing P-8 maritime patrol jets and Canada’s first-ever fleet of large uncrewed aerial vehicles.
Story updated 31 May to include additional fleet details provided by the Royal Canadian Air Force
