Without big planes, Canada at mercy of Russians: minister
Last Updated: Tuesday, February 6, 2007 | 6:32 PM ET
CBC News
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2007/02/06/big-planes.html
Defence Minister Gordon O'Connor says Canada needs four giant U.S. military transports to avoid being "hostage" to the wishes of Russia, which leases planes to NATO.
二月二日，加拿大政府宣布向美国购买四架超巨飞机。总计34亿加元。
The government announced a $3.4-billion deal on Feb. 2 to buy four Boeing C-17 Globemaster IIIs, aircraft that dwarf the Forces' workhorse Lockheed Hercules transport.
The four-engine Boeing C-17 Globemaster III can carry more than 70 tonnes of equipment, including tanks, trucks and other vehicles.The four-engine Boeing C-17 Globemaster III can carry more than 70 tonnes of equipment, including tanks, trucks and other vehicles.
(CBC)
自由党对国防部提出质疑：
国防部长先生，我们真得需要这些大飞机吗？
我们完全可以把笔巨款用来改善加军状况比如更多的军车。实在不明白购买大飞机后面有什么原因。
"General O'Connor, why do we truly need those planes?" Liberal defence critic Denis Coderre asked in a parliamentary hearing on Tuesday. "Because the way I see it I could have put that $3.4-billion on [improving] the troops' conditions, more trucks? I don't see the rationale of it."
O'Connor, a retired brigadier-general and a fan of the big Boeings, responded partly by questioning the wisdom of NATO's Strategic Airlift Interim Solution, a program that charters huge Russian and Ukrainian Antonov An-124 transports to fill gaps in airlift capacity.
早年前，根据一项国际合作项目，北约成员国可以租用俄罗斯等前苏联国家的大飞机来提高本国的空运能力。
Defence Minister Gordon O'Connor says Canada is 'not going to be hostage to any foreign government' when it needs transport planes.Defence Minister Gordon O'Connor says Canada is 'not going to be hostage to any foreign government' when it needs transport planes.
(CBC)
加国防部认为不能依靠他国的设备，要自己拥有同类大飞机。
Canada cannot depend on other people's planes in a crunch, he told the Commons standing committee on national defence.
"And when it comes to leasing commercial aircraft, essentially strategic airlift are under the control of the Russian government, and we already know of incidents where the Russian government has refused the use of aircraft because they don't agree with its use.
Continue Article
"The British, for example, eventually went and bought C-17s because they had trouble with the leased aircraft because the Russian government refused to allow them to land where they wanted to land them.
"So we are not going to be hostage to any foreign government and we are not going to be hostage to any foreign company. This country, this Armed Forces, is going to be as self-reliant as it can be."
The Liberals wore out Canada's Hercules fleet by using the planes as long-haul strategic transports during their years in power, he said.
The Conservative government is ordering 17 new Hercules as well as the C-17s, each of which will lift four times as much as a Hercules, he said.
"We're getting both strategic lift and tactical lift because the Canadian Forces need both tactical and strategic lift," he said.
He was backed by General Rick Hillier, the chief of defence staff, who said it is often impossible to beg or borrow big transport planes at the beginning of a crisis because everybody wants them.
Last Updated: Tuesday, February 6, 2007 | 6:32 PM ET
CBC News
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2007/02/06/big-planes.html
Defence Minister Gordon O'Connor says Canada needs four giant U.S. military transports to avoid being "hostage" to the wishes of Russia, which leases planes to NATO.
二月二日，加拿大政府宣布向美国购买四架超巨飞机。总计34亿加元。
The government announced a $3.4-billion deal on Feb. 2 to buy four Boeing C-17 Globemaster IIIs, aircraft that dwarf the Forces' workhorse Lockheed Hercules transport.
The four-engine Boeing C-17 Globemaster III can carry more than 70 tonnes of equipment, including tanks, trucks and other vehicles.The four-engine Boeing C-17 Globemaster III can carry more than 70 tonnes of equipment, including tanks, trucks and other vehicles.
(CBC)
自由党对国防部提出质疑：
国防部长先生，我们真得需要这些大飞机吗？
我们完全可以把笔巨款用来改善加军状况比如更多的军车。实在不明白购买大飞机后面有什么原因。
"General O'Connor, why do we truly need those planes?" Liberal defence critic Denis Coderre asked in a parliamentary hearing on Tuesday. "Because the way I see it I could have put that $3.4-billion on [improving] the troops' conditions, more trucks? I don't see the rationale of it."
O'Connor, a retired brigadier-general and a fan of the big Boeings, responded partly by questioning the wisdom of NATO's Strategic Airlift Interim Solution, a program that charters huge Russian and Ukrainian Antonov An-124 transports to fill gaps in airlift capacity.
早年前，根据一项国际合作项目，北约成员国可以租用俄罗斯等前苏联国家的大飞机来提高本国的空运能力。
Defence Minister Gordon O'Connor says Canada is 'not going to be hostage to any foreign government' when it needs transport planes.Defence Minister Gordon O'Connor says Canada is 'not going to be hostage to any foreign government' when it needs transport planes.
(CBC)
加国防部认为不能依靠他国的设备，要自己拥有同类大飞机。
Canada cannot depend on other people's planes in a crunch, he told the Commons standing committee on national defence.
"And when it comes to leasing commercial aircraft, essentially strategic airlift are under the control of the Russian government, and we already know of incidents where the Russian government has refused the use of aircraft because they don't agree with its use.
Continue Article
"The British, for example, eventually went and bought C-17s because they had trouble with the leased aircraft because the Russian government refused to allow them to land where they wanted to land them.
"So we are not going to be hostage to any foreign government and we are not going to be hostage to any foreign company. This country, this Armed Forces, is going to be as self-reliant as it can be."
The Liberals wore out Canada's Hercules fleet by using the planes as long-haul strategic transports during their years in power, he said.
The Conservative government is ordering 17 new Hercules as well as the C-17s, each of which will lift four times as much as a Hercules, he said.
"We're getting both strategic lift and tactical lift because the Canadian Forces need both tactical and strategic lift," he said.
He was backed by General Rick Hillier, the chief of defence staff, who said it is often impossible to beg or borrow big transport planes at the beginning of a crisis because everybody wants them.
