Canadia
n Forces, acting upon a new bilateral agreement, deployed three transport aircraft in the past week to support the US military’s humanitarian efforts during Hurricane Gustav, Air Forces Northern said in a release Sept. 2. A CC-177 (Canada’s designation for the C-17) from Trenton, Ontario, deployed to New Orleans Aug. 31 to assist in the evacuation of sick and elderly prior to Gustav making landfall west of there Sept. 1. Two CC-130s (Canada’s designation for the C-130) were also sent from Winnipeg, Manitoba, to Pensacola, Fla., to assist with search and rescue operations in the hurricane’s wake. They were subsequently recalled to Canada once officials determined they would not be needed. In a separate release Tuesday, US Northern Command said these deployments marked the first time that the two nations’ militaries have used the mutual civil-assistance plan signed in February to coordinate Canadian military support in response to a threatening natural disaster in the US.
An important U.S. Air Force E-3 Sentry AWACS command and control plane was among the aircraft damaged in a March 27 Iranian missile and drone attack on Prince Sultan Air Base, Saudi Arabia, people familiar with the matter told Air & Space Forces Magazine.