Ottawa examined as permanent base for new refuelling planes, but ultimately rejected: RCAF documents

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Ottawa was under consideration to be the new permanent home for a fleet of Canadian air force refuelling planes, but lost out to Trenton, Ont., because that location offered room for expansion in the future as well as existing capabilities.

The Royal Canadian Air Force was told last year to consider both Ottawa and Canadian Forces Base Trenton for the new operating base for the CC-330 Husky refuelling and transport planes, according to records obtained by the Ottawa Citizen.

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Ottawa is already the interim base for the new fleet ordered by the Liberal government in a $3.6-billion deal. The first three aircraft are expected to operate out of Ottawa for the next several years.

The criteria for the permanent base included runways large enough to support the new planes as well as a priority access to fuel, the Nov. 9, 2023, documents prepared for military leaders noted. Also needed was a large-enough fuel facility to keep the aircraft ready for operations and maintenance hangars for the aircraft that are much larger than those of the RCAF’s Polaris and C-17 transport planes, the records, obtained through the Access to Information law, pointed out.

The RCAF ultimately settled on Trenton as the new home.

National Defence spokesperson Andrée-Anne Poulin noted that Trenton was already the hub for existing air-mobility operations and was home to the squadron that would be flying the Husky aircraft, as well as the training squadron for those supporting the fleet.

“It was concluded that 8 Wing Trenton was the preferred location as it would fully meet the infrastructure needs for the CC-330 (and) it would provide longer term infrastructure portfolio sustainability for the RCAF and DND/CAF,” Poulin explained in an email to the Ottawa Citizen. The selection of Trenton also aligns with government policy for making the best use out of existing property.

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Defence Minister Bill Blair announced in March that Trenton had been selected as the new base and the government would proceed with $850 million in upgrades for the installation.

That money will finance major airfield work at Trenton, including development and design of a two-bay hangar, an upgraded apron and runway, taxiways and other supporting infrastructure, Blair said then.

A second main operating base for the new aircraft will also be established in western Canada. National Defence could not provide a date on when that new base would be named. “We’ll have more information to share on the Western Canada (base) for the CC-330 fleet shortly,” National Defence spokesperson Kened Sadiku said in an email.

Two Husky aircraft have been delivered to Canada so far: the first in 2023, and the second on Feb. 16, 2024.

Although currently configured for transport, the aircraft will eventually be converted to become a multi-role tanker transport plane. The Husky fleet will handle air-to-air refuelling, passenger transport, aeromedical evacuation and strategic transport.

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In total, nine Husky aircraft will replace the RCAF’s current Polaris fleet of five planes.

Ottawa, however, will be the new permanent home to a $65-million military facility to control the RCAF’s recently purchased drone fleet.

The installation to be built at Uplands and to be ready by 2028 will be around 6,000 square metres in size. It will be home to almost 200 military personnel whose job will be to operate and control the drones flying from bases in British Columbia and Nova Scotia as well as Arctic locations.

The Canadian Forces and National Defence originally claimed to the Ottawa Citizen that the location in Ottawa for the new building was secret for security reasons.

But that information was false. National Defence outlined details about the Uplands location in publicly available documents online. The department also held public consultations on the Uplands location as part of its environmental assessment for the site, government documents show.

The documents indicate that the proposed size of the facility has increased. It was originally envisioned as a 4,000-square-metre building, according to the records, but will now be around 6,000 square metres.

It is not clear why the RCAF and National Defence tried to mislead the Ottawa Citizen with false information.

David Pugliese is an award-winning journalist covering Canadian Forces and military issues in Canada. To support his work, subscribe: ottawacitizen.com/subscribe

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