Canada to invest $630 million in CFB Trenton to host CC-330 fleet

The Canadian government has announced its intention to invest C$850 million (US$631.3 million) to upgrade Canadian Forces Base (CFB) Trenton, located in Ontario, to enable the airbase to host the country’s new fleet of CC-330 Husky Strategic Tanker Transport Aircraft.

Canadian minister of national defence Bill Blair visited CFB Trenton, home of the Royal Canadian Air Force’s (RCAF’s) air mobility operations in Canada, to announce the investment which will fund airfield and infrastructure work at the airbase. The works, which will include the development of a two-bay hangar and upgrades to the runway and taxiways, will support plans for the airbase to serve as the Eastern Main Operating Base for the new CC-330 Husky fleet.

Canada ordered a fleet of nine CC-330 Husky aircraft from Airbus Defence and Space SAU in June 2023 in a deal valued at C$3.6 billion via the Strategic Tanker Transport Capability (STTC) project. The project will attempt to almost doubled the size of the previous fleet, with the first Husky aircraft delivered to Canada in 2023. A second Husky joined the fleet in mid-February 2024.

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The transport aircraft will be converted into multi-role tanker transport aircraft to offer the RCAF the capability to conduct air mobility missions including air-to-air refuelling, aeromedical evacuation and strategic transport.

Initial operational capability for the nine aircraft has been planned for 2028–29, with Full Operational Capability (FOC) set to follow by 2032–33.

RCAF commander Lieutenant-General Eric Kenny said: “The threat to Canada’s sovereignty and interests abroad, created by competition for global power and advancing technologies, remains as significant now as any time in our history. The RCAF must be ready answer when our nation calls with a mission-ready, well-equipped and combat-capable force.”

The first of three CE-145C Vigilance aircraft, a modified Beechcraft King Air 350ER turbo prop aircraft produced by L3 Harris, arrived in Trenton in February 2024. The aircraft will offer a new manned airborne intelligence surveillance and reconnaissance (MAISR) capability as part of a C$246.9 million initiative for the Canadian Special Operations Forces Command (CANSOFCOM).

Since 2022, Canada has undertaken the procurement or upgrade of approximately 140 new or refurbished aircraft for the RCAF, including 88 new F-35 fighter jets and up to 16 new P-8A Poseidon multi-mission aircraft.

Delivery of the remaining two CE-145C Vigilance aircraft has been scheduled for later this year followed by FOC in 2025.