14 Wing Greenwood co-hosted a cross-country announcement December 19, as a $2.5 billion remotely piloted aircraft systems (RPAS) project was announced for both 14 Wing and 19 Wing Comox bases.
Kings Hants Member of Parliament Kody Blois, speaking in Greenwood on behalf of federal Minister of Defence Bill Blair, called the news a “great day for the Royal Canadian Air Force and Canada.
“Government takes seriously the responsibility to provide the equipment the men and women of the Canadian Armed Forces need to do their jobs. Canada has an important role protecting our own sovereignty, and also working with international partners. That is what today is all about.”
The RPAS project will see 11 new remotely piloted, jet-sized aircraft, the General Atomics Aeronautical MQ9B, in full service by 2033; eight based in Greenwood and three based at 19 Wing. The first should be in service by 2028. That means major investments in Ottawa, where a new ground control centre with aircraft cockpits and 160 personnel will operate the aircraft; and in Greenwood, where 55 Canadian Armed Forces and Department of National Defence personnel will work out of a new aircraft hangar. Three of the aircraft, with 25 personnel, will be based at 19 Wing. The $2.5 billion project includes the aircraft, hangars and operational space, security fencing, runway and parking expansion, initial weapons, training and courses, relevant hardware and software.
“Highly-skilled RCAF pilots of these aircraft will be able to provide real-time information and armed, air-to-ground capabilities for command, over much longer distances and in more complex environments,” Blois said, including over Canada’s North and maritime approaches, potential overseas deployments, search and rescue operations and in support of civilian work, such as forest fire surveillance.
“Look at the ways this can be deployed on a quicker timeline, and meet operational requirements on any given day, without putting our men and women in harm’s way.”
Blois said the RPAS project’s interoperability with international allies is a key feature, as RCAF members put the new aircraft to “work alongside our allies who do have this technology.”
14 Wing Greenwood Commander Colonel Jeff Davis said the new aircraft, and all its operations, will follow “exact air worthiness technicalities,” even as they operate from different locations. He’s also confident the project is working through the right processes to be able to see the aircraft perform in all “elements, weather and extremes.
“The platform will be able to do the job. We’ll be able to update it as we go along and as these arrive, and they’ll be deployable before” the 2033 full project completion target.
