Canada to Spend C$ 500 Million on CFB Trenton

CC-177: Trenton arrival(click to view full) CFB Trenton, located in the province of Ontario about 2 hours drive away from Toronto, is one of the Canadian Forces’ busiest bases. It is the backbone of Canada’s transport fleet, housing Canada’s 4 new C-17s (aka CC-177) along with 20 C-130 Hercules transports, 5 Airbus A310 Polaris (CC-150) transports/refuelers, and 4 Challenger (CC-144) VIP business jets that are technically 8 Wing’s responsibility*. When Canada’s 17 new C-130J Hercules transports arrive, many of them will also be based at CFB Trenton. Accommodating that level of activity and restoring Trenton’s flightline over the next 5 years will require the rebuilding and construction of new taxiways, ramps and aprons, as well as several new maintenance hangars. All of these activities are included within the C$ 500 million (about $470 million) budget, announced by the Minister for Defence on Sept 5/08. So, too, is relocation of Canada’s JTF2 special forces to Trenton. JTF2 has seen long-standing service in the “commando olympics” of Afghanistan, and is also Canada’s key unit for potential domestic anti-terrorism operations like hostage rescues. The unit is growing in size, and has begun to outgrow its current location at Dwyer Hill Training Centre near […]