The Staggering Cost
of Rental Airlift
Two more articles appeared in today’s Herald with respect to
the pitiful state of Canada’s military airlift. When Paul Celluci states that we are a consumer of
airlift, he is not kidding. The Royal United Services Institute of Nova
Scotia has continuously urged our politicians to rectify this national
embarrassment. For two years, we have stated that the Canadian government
is wasting taxpayers money with the easy out practice
of “rent a plane.” From getting our support to air operations in Aviano Italy during the Kosovo crisis, to the comical show
of trying to get three C-130s from Trenton to East Timor, the cost of airlift
for Afghanistan and the latest “rapid deployment” of the DART to Sri Lanka, the
federal government has hemorrhaged enormous funds to pay foreign carriers to
get us there and not always when we need to get there. Fortunately we have not
faced the reverse crisis which is, who do we turn to when we need to extract
our forces from an area in a hurry? Canada needs its own strategic airlift, it
needs it now and the US could offer us a buy to lease
arrangement for C-17 airlifters, the best in the
world. This would be similar to what the UK Royal Air Forces has done to
meet its requirements. We don’t need a defence review to show us what we
need – we need the political will to get on with it. As for the argument
that the aircraft would just “sit around” when not on national tasks, rent them
out – let someone else pay the piper.
Murray Lee, Colonel (Retired)
Vice President
RUSI Nova Scotia
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