A Canadian CC-177 Globemaster military transport plane came back from fighting the Australian wildfires with a little extra package: another Australian F/A-18 fighter jet to add to Canada’s fleet.
On Friday, the Canadian Armed Forces posted a photo on Facebook of officials unloading the old fighter jet out of the massive cargo plane.
On January 27, Canada sent the CC-17 Globemaster to Australia — as well as about 15 people — to Australia to transport fire retardant from the United States, free up Australian airlift capacity and take images of fires from the air to predict how they might spread.
The plane was a part of Operation Renaissance, a standing mission that sends military help to other countries coping with natural disasters.
The CC-177 Globemaster performs touch and goes at Mountain View on 25 April 2012.
Last January, Canada finalized a $90 million deal to purchase 25 used fighter jets from Australia to supplement RCAF’s CF-18 fighters until new aircraft can be purchased later on.
The first of the repurposed jets — built around the late 1980’s — flew with Canadian colours in July.
Canada has already sent about 100 firefighters and experts to Australia to help combat the fires that have consumed millions of hectares of bush, particularly in the southeastern part of the country.
With files from the Canadian Press.
