Question Period Note: CC-150 POLARIS

• What is this government doing to ensure the Royal Canadian Air Force has the capabilities required to conduct its operations?

• Canada’s fleet of Polaris aircraft serve multiple essential purposes, including medical evacuations, transport of personnel, and air-to-air refueling.
• They also perform the role of Prime Minister, Governor General, or Royal Family, with safe and secure transportation to anywhere in the world.
• Through Canada’s defence policy, we have committed to replacing these aircraft with a new strategic transport capability.
• This will help bolster Canada’s contribution to continental defence and NORAD.
• It will also ensure supplies are transported to military personnel deployed on mission all over the globe.

If pressed on damaged aircraft
* Damage to Polaris Aircraft 01 has been assessed.
* Efforts are underway to return the aircraft to service in the summer of 2020.
* The Royal Canadian Air Force is confident it can continue to meet the Prime Minister’s travel demands while the aircraft is being repaired.

BACKGROUND

CC-150 POLARIS

• The CC-150 Polaris is a multi-purpose, twin-engine, long-range jet aircraft. It can be used for passenger, freight or medical transport and air-to-air refueling. The Polaris can reach a speed of up to 1029 km/h carrying a load of up to 32,000 kilograms. It can carry up to 194 passengers, depending on the particular aircraft tail number and configuration.

• All five CC-150 Polaris aircraft are stationed at 8 Wing Trenton, Ontario. During its years in service, the Polaris fleet has transported vast amounts of supplies to Canadian Armed Forces personnel deployed on missions all over the globe.

• Two CC-150 Polaris aircraft have been converted to strategic air-to-air refuellers for Canada’s fleet of CF-18 Hornets. The Polaris Multi-Role Tanker Transport is capable of transferring 36,000 kilograms of fuel to receiving aircraft over a journey of 4,630 kilometres. One Polaris tanker can ferry a flight of four CF-18 Hornets non-stop across the Atlantic Ocean.

• The CC-150 Polaris can also be used to transport high-ranking government officials and foreign dignitaries. The aircraft has carried the Prime Minister, the Governor General and members of the Royal Family across Canada and around the world.

STRATEGIC TANKER TRANSPORT CAPABILITY (STTC)

• The operational priority for Strategic Tanker Transport Capability is to provide domestic air-to-air refueling and support to NORAD, North Atlantic Treaty Organization and coalition operations.

• The Strategic Tanker Transport Capability project is currently in the Options Analysis phase.

• The next milestone is Definition phase, which will involve further refinement of the requirements, the preparation of a Request for Proposal, followed by a formal engagement period with Industry and finally the release of the Request for Proposal.

RECENT EVENTS

• On October 18, 2019, while being towed into a hangar at 8 Wing Trenton by contracted maintenance personnel, the CC-150 (01) Polaris aircraft that usually transports the Prime Minister suffered significant structural damage to the nose and right engine cowling and will not return into service until at least August 2020.

• On December 2, 2019, during a post-flight inspection, a problem with one of the engines on the backup Polaris CC-150 (03) used by the Prime Minister to attend the North Atlantic Treaty Organization summit in London was discovered, which required a standard 3-day repair that did not meet the Prime Minister’s timelines. This required the Royal Canadian Air Force to provide an alternative aircraft, CC-150 (02), in returning to Canada.

RECENT PARLIAMENTARY INTEREST

• Nil.

RECENT MEDIA INTEREST

• In fall 2019, there was sustained media coverage of the Polaris fleet. While initial media coverage was minimal in October following the damage caused to a Polaris aircraft while being towed into a hanger in Trenton, media interest increased substantially regarding the fleet and their operational status following the engine problems which affected the Prime Minister’s return from the NATO summit in London.

GBA+

• Nil.

INDIGENOUS

• Nil.

Responsible Principals: Assistant Deputy Minister (Materiel), Royal Canadian Air Force

QUICK FACTS

• Current fleet: 5 Airbus A310 tanker aircraft (3 configured for transport with 119-194 passengers, 2 configured for air-to-air refueling).

• The fleet is based at 8 Wing Trenton and operated by 437 Squadron.

• By 2027, the fleet will have reached its estimated life expectancy.

• The 2018 Defence Investment Plan estimates the Strategic Tanker Transport Capability project will be in the range of $1 billion - $5 billion.