Canadian planes flying less as ISIL sites prove elusive

Canadian military aircraft tasked with fighting the Islamic State in Iraq are spending most of their time on the ground.

Canada is contributing six CF18 fighter jets, two Aurora military surveillance aircraft and a Polaris refuelling plane to the U.S.-led bombing campaign against ISIL.

The aircraft began flying sorties on Oct. 30, and by the end of the first week had logged a total of 42. Those included an airstrike that destroyed four ISIL construction vehicles.

But the pace has since slowed, particularly over the past week. While the CF-18s and other aircraft flew a combined 26 and 35 sorties in the war’s second and third weeks, only 13 sorties were flown between Nov. 20 and 26. (The military counts a sortie every time one of its planes embarks on a mission. If two planes are involved in the same mission, it counts as two sorties.)

Of the 13 sorties, six were flown by the CF-18s, or exactly one mission per fighter jet over the entire six days. The Auroras flew four while the Polaris flew three. Each sortie is believed to run about four to six hours.

A U.S.-led command centre is responsible for assigning missions to all coalition aircraft, and the Canadian commander on the ground, Col. Daniel Constable, said Thursday that Canada accomplished everything asked of it.

But Constable also said two weeks ago that coalition forces were having a hard time finding ISIL targets, and the latest up- date indicates the situation hasn’t got any better.

This was the first week in which Canadian warplanes did not launch an attack against ISIL targets, after destroying construction vehicles, an artillery piece, a warehouse and a bunker during the previous three weeks.

Constable said the most noteworthy Canadian mission of the past week was escorting an allied transport plane that dropped water, tents, blankets and other supplies to Iraqi civilians.

He would not say which country was behind the humanitarian drop, how much aid was delivered, when the mission happened, or where, citing concerns that the information would help ISIL. National Defence spokesman Daniel Le Bouthillier later revealed that the transport plane was Australian.

Le Bouthillier also said that when Canadian aircraft are not flying a mission, they can undergo routine maintenance to ensure they’re ready for the next assignment.

With Canadian warplanes having little to do in Iraq, the discussion turns to the future of the six-month combat mission. In particular, the government will face the question of whether to end operations or, conversely, expand into Syria.

Syria has been embroiled in a complex, bloody civil war since 2011, and unlike in Iraq, the Syrian government has not invited Canada or its allies to fight ISIL within its borders. That has created legal hurdles amid fears Canada could be drawn into a broader conflict.

While Syria has been off-limits to the Canadian military, the U.S. and some Arab allies have sidestepped the Syrian government to launch attacks against ISIL forces there since the summer. There has been speculation in recent weeks that Canada will follow suit.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s spokesman, Stephen Lecce, would not comment Thursday on the possibility of expanding the mission into Syria.

“Canada is focused on our current mission: airstrikes against ISIL in Iraq, and soldiers performing an advise-and-assist function,” he said, referring to the several dozen Canadian special forces troops working with Kurdish and Iraqi government forces in northern Iraq.

Justice Minister Peter MacKay told the CBC last weekend that the government had discussed expanding the mission with other allies, and that lawyers in his department were working to eliminate the legal hurdles.

“We’re operating against an enemy (ISIL) that does not respect any borders,” he said.