Canada has received the first two aircraft being acquired as part of a full overhaul of the country’s military trainer fleet.
Two Grob G120TP turboprops arrived at Gatineau-Ottawa Executive airport near the Canadian capital on 11 September after being ferried from Grob Aircraft’s production site in Bavaria.
The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) plans to operate 23 of G120TPs under the designation CT-102B Astra II. To be based at CFB Moose Jaw in Saskatchewan, they will serve as a basic flight instruction platform, succeeding Canada’s current Grob CT-120A trainers.
The new CT-102Bs offer improved aerodynamic performance, helping “prepare pilots to fly increasingly advanced RCAF of today and the future”, the service says.
Although the subject of some political debate, Canada is for now still moving forward with plans to acquire 88 US-made F-35A stealth fighters from Lockheed Martin. These are to replace the RCAF’s current frontline fleet of 66 Boeing F/A-18A Hornets.
Ottawa has not identified the jet aircraft that will be used to prepare new pilots to fly the F-35, after retiring the RCAF’s BAE Systems Hawks in 2024.
The Canadian government began consulting with industry about prospects for a new “future fighter lead-in trainer” in 2024, with plans to field a new jet sometime in the 2030s.
Likely contenders include the Korea Aerospace Industries T-50, the Leonardo M-346 and the Boeing T-7A. Sierra Nevada’s recently unveiled Freedom jet is another likely candidate.
In the meantime, Major-General Jeff Smyth, chief of air and space force development for the RCAF, calls fielding CT-102Bs a first step toward preparing for high-powered aircraft like the F-35 and Boeing P-8A maritime patrol jet – locally designated the CF-35A and CP-8A, respectively.
“The Astra II provides more power and superior performance and will set students up for success as they prepare to fly the sophisticated RCAF aircraft we will welcome in the near future, like the CF-35A and CP-8A,” Smyth says.
In August, RCAF commander Lieutenant-General Jamie Speiser-Blanchet told FlightGlobal she is focused on evolving the Canadian air service into a ”very modern fifth-generation air force”.
Ottawa plans to acquire more than 200 new military aircraft in the coming years, including fighters, maritime patrol aircraft and uncrewed aerial vehicles, as part of a generational recapitalisation of the RCAF.
Of those, 71 will be new trainers meant to qualify the service’s next generation of pilots.
Five trainer types are to be acquired under the Future Aircrew Training (FAcT) programme, which includes both single- and multi-engined aircraft, plus a rotary-wing trainer.
A joint venture between Canadian firms CAE and KF Aerospace known as SkyAlyne received the contract to acquire the new trainer fleet in 2024, a deal valued at some C$12 billion ($8.6 billion).
The FAcT contract also includes student instruction and operation of the trainer aircraft, with training services expected to begin in 2029.
“As Canada rearms, reinvests and rebuilds the Canadian armed forces, we will do so by investing in our industries,” says defence minister David McGuinty.
In addition to the GT120TPs, SkyAlyne plans to procure 19 single-engined Pilatus PC-21s for advanced fight training, three De Havilland Canada Dash 8-400s to train airborne systems and sensor operators, seven Beechcraft King Air 260 twin-engined turboprops for multi-engined training and 19 Airbus Helicopters H135s for rotary flight instruction.
The five new trainer types are to feature similar livery schemes: dark blue lower fuselages and yellow upper fuselages, separated by a red stripe.
