Military Dealing With Gap in Search-and-Rescue Services Due to New Procurement Delay

A Canadian Forces CC-115 Buffalo aircraft prepares to land at Chilliwack Airport in Chilliwack, B.C., on February 28, 2014. The Canadian Press/Darryl Dyck

The Royal Canadian Air Force is relocating two aircraft from Winnipeg to Vancouver Island to address a gap in Canada’s search-and-rescue coverage, the result of yet another delay in Canada’s troubled military procurement system.

Air Force commander Lt.-Gen. Al Meinzinger laid out the plan to base two Hercules aircraft at Canadian Forces Base Comox as officials revealed the military’s new Kingfisher search-and-rescue planes won’t be ready for another three years.