The Royal Canadian Air Force has welcomed the first of 16 new planes for search and rescue efforts.
The plane is an Airbus C-295 and three of them will be coming to 8 Wing Trenton before 2022.
Last week, the first landed at CFB Comox in B.C
They are destined to replace the aging Buffalo fleet, and the older model CC-130-H Hercules, which you can still see on the tarmac in Trenton.
Officials say they have retrofitted the planes, doing up to one million man hours of work on the fleet.
They are more fuel efficient, provide new technology, and can fly further thanks to the upgrades, which include electro-optical infrared cameras, surveillance radar, terrain awareness, weather radar, and enhanced flight vision cameras.
“Airbus is really proud to be able to celebrate this important milestone: the arrival of the first out of 16 Fixed Wing Search and Rescue C295 at the Canadian Forces Base Comox. Thanks to the excellent collaboration with Canadian officials we have overcome the challenges caused by COVID-19 and we were able to deliver the aircraft. Despite the current pandemic, we are confident of achieving the program target of six deliveries by the end of this year. We look forward to our continued collaboration and to the C295 Canada“, said Airbus Defence and Space Chief Executive Officer, Dirk Hoke, on a video statement.
You can watch a video on the new plane below.
