‘Operational pause’

Military helicopters return from Iraq because of pandemic

OTTAWA — With the Iraq mission pretty much at a standstill because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Canadian Forces has pulled its helicopters and associated air crews from the country.

Three Griffon helicopters based in Petawawa and three from Edmonton returned from Iraq in mid-April, Department of National Defence spokeswoman Jessica Lamirande confirmed in an email.

At the same time maintenance work on the Royal Canadian Navy’s submarines has been halted because of COVID-19, disrupting the military’s plans to get two of the boats to sea this year.

Lamirande said three Griffon helicopters were from the 427 Special Operations Aviation Squadron based in Petawawa, and the three other helicopters were from 408 Squadron based in Edmonton.

“Over the past several months the environment in Iraq has shifted considerably,” she explained in an email. “The spread of COVID-19 has caused the Iraqi Security Forces to suspend all training activities, which has led to an operational pause.”

Two C-130J Hercules aircraft will remain for resupply flights in the region.

There are less than 100 Canadians left in Iraq, according to the Canadian Forces. A number of nations have pulled their troops from the country.

The coalition training mission in Iraq has been at standstill since early January, first as a result of the U.S. assassination of an Iranian leader in Baghdad and now because Iraqi soldiers have stopped all training because of the coronavirus.

The pandemic has also derailed plans by the Royal Canadian Navy to try to get its Victoria-class submarines back at sea.

In response to a written question before Parliament earlier this year, DND acknowledged that the four submarines had not gone to sea in 2019 because they were all in various stages of repair or maintenance. The Canadian Forces was hoping two of the subs would set sail in 2020.

But Lamirande confirmed that maintenance work on the subs has stopped because of COVID-19. Work on the submarines is done in very close-quarters and that can’t be performed while maintaining social distancing. “The RCN made great progress at the start of the year with the goal to return both HMCS Victoria and HMCS Windsor back to sea,” Lamirande explained. “Further maintenance is required before they can be deployed. However, in order to ensure the health and safety of our defence team, work onboard submarines was put on pause during this pandemic.”