The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) has achieved two significant milestones after the force completed its 1,000th sortie and 100 air strikes in support of the coalition air campaign in Iraq and Syria against ISIS.
The Canadian aircraft carried out a total of 1,016 sorties, including 661 sorties by CF-188 Hornet fighters, 185 reconnaissance missions by CP-140 Aurora aircraft, and 170 sorties by CC-150T Polaris aerial refueller.
These sorties have resulted in delivering more than 10 million pounds of fuel to coalition aircraft. In addition, RCAF’s CF-18’s have conducted 100 air strikes in the region.
Canada National Defence minister Jason Kenney said: "I am proud of our men and women in uniform who continue to make significant contributions to coalition operations.
"The achievement of these milestones again proves the capability of the Canadian Armed Forces to fight alongside our Allies and degrade the capability of ISIS to conduct operations in the region."
As part of Operation IMPACT, Canada deployed six CF-18 Hornet fighter aircraft, one CC-150T Polaris aerial refueller and two CP-140M Aurora surveillance aircraft in the region in October 2014.
With these capabilities, Canada supported coalition air operations with intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions, aerial refuelling, and airstrike missions using precision guided munitions.
Operation IMPACT is Canada’s contribution to the multinational coalition Middle East Stabilization Force.
For the coalition operations, Canada is contributing around 600 personnel, including aircrew support elements, such as command and control and logistics.
