Canada’s Air Force has just received the first of four C-17 strategic airlifters. CTV.ca reports that air officials had to fight some Canadian politicians, who maintained that the air force could continue to rent airlifters whenever needed. The Canadian Air Force Chief, Lt. Gen. Angus Watt, noted that the pool of rental aircraft is small and during a crisis “everyone’s trying to rent them at the same time.” The new Canadian airlifter could be deployed to Afghanistan soon.
The Air Force has embraced new technical approaches like open mission systems and rapid software updates for cutting-edge aircraft like the B-21 and Collaborative Combat Aircraft. Increasingly, though, the service is also working to apply these to its older, “legacy” aircraft, officials said this week.