The Department of National Defence (DND) is in negotiations with the Edmonton International Airport (YEG) to formalize an agreement for the location of the new Main Operating Base-West (MOB-West) for the Royal Canadian Air Force\u2019s (RCAF) CC-330 Husky fleet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In March 2024, the DND confirmed 8 Wing Trenton, Ont., as its MOB-East location for the Strategic Tanker Transport Capability fleet and provided $850 million to design a two-bay hangar and upgrade the apron, runway, taxiways and other supporting infrastructure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The department has yet to name a primary forward operating location in the North.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Under a $3.6 billion contract with Airbus Defence and Space, announced in July 2023, the RCAF is acquiring four new A330 Multi-Role Tanker Transport aircraft and will also convert four of five recently acquired used A330-200 aircraft to the MRTT configuration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The nine aircraft, designated the CC-330 Husky, are replacing the RCAF fleet of five CP-150 Polaris aircraft, two of which are configured for tanking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Air Force has begun receiving the CC-330s in their commercial configuration for transport missions. The first MRTT configured aircraft is expected to begin operations in 2027, and the RCAF is anticipating reaching initial operational capability for the fleet in 2028-2029.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The nine Huskies will be split between the two MOB locations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The new MOB-West location is expected to include a hangar, operations, maintenance, logistics\/warehousing, and training and administrative spaces to support RCAF operations for the CC-330 Husky aircraft.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The MRTT investment is part of Canada\u2019s $38.6 billion North American Aerospace Defense (NORAD) Modernization Plan, announced in June 2022, which represents the most significant upgrade to Canada’s NORAD capabilities in almost four decades.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The DND said it will be completing further due diligence activities, environmental reviews, site studies, and land value assessment activities in the coming months for the MOB-West location before taking the final step of formalizing an agreement with the Edmonton International Airport. The related project scope and cost estimates will also be finalized once negotiations conclude.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe Main Operating Base \u2013 West for Canada\u2019s CC-330 Husky fleet enables the RCAF to better support its commitments to NORAD and will be key to enabling the RCAF to secure our Arctic airspace,” stated RCAF Commander LGen Eric Kenny.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“The CC-330 Husky will provide the RCAF with increased flexibility to fulfill a variety of air mobility missions in support of operations and training activities within Canada, as part of NORAD, its Arctic region, and around the world. The CC-330 Husky provides the Canadian Armed Forces with a modern air-to-air refuelling, passenger transport, aeromedical evacuation, and strategic transport of Government of Canada officials, that is reflective of a fifth-generation air and space force.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
National Defence and the Edmonton International Airport are in negotiations to secure a western main operating base for the CC-330 fleet.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":61,"featured_media":354872,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","categories":[15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-359692","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-military","entry"],"acf":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/skiesmag.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/359692","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/skiesmag.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/skiesmag.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/skiesmag.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/61"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/skiesmag.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=359692"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/skiesmag.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/354872"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/skiesmag.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=359692"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/skiesmag.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=359692"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/skiesmag.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=359692"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}