Defence officials are playing down any significant impact from the latest delay, which has left the first new search-and-rescue plane built by Airbus stranded in Spain
Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan announces that the federal government will spend $2.3-billion to replace the military's ancient search-and-rescue planes with 16 new aircraft from European aerospace giant Airbus, at CFB Trenton, in Trenton, Ont., on Dec. 8, 2016.The Royal Canadian Air Force is being forced to fly its ancient search-and-rescue planes even longer as COVID-19 further delays the delivery of replacement aircraft.
Yet the planes are all around 50 years old and scheduled for retirement as maintenance requirements have grown and spare parts become harder to find. In 2014, officials had to get parts from a museum in Trenton, Ont., in 2014 to fix a broken Hercules. “Although there are still schedule risks given the uncertainty of the pandemic situation, Canadians can rest assured that the Royal Canadian Air Force will continue to provide uninterrupted search-and-rescue services until we transition to the new capability.”
“We are and have been working closely with Airbus to develop and implement mitigation strategies that will ensure continued progress notwithstanding the situation,” she said.
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