OTTAWA - Canada's NATO partners are being asked to ride shotgun on rented Russian-built transport helicopters and newly purchased Chinooks once the air force takes possession of them in Afghanistan, says a senior Canadian military planner.
Both the U.S. Army and Dutch forces have operated armed escort helicopters out of Kandahar Airfield since 2006.
And the allies will be asked to protect the Canadian transports, says Lt.-Col. Stan Grabstas.
The decision potentially puts to rest rampant speculation that a flight of specially-modified CH-146 Griffon utility helicopters, which have been given weapons and extra sensors, will be deployed to the war zone.
"We've asked our allies to provide any of the escort requirements for our Chinooks and or possibly the charters in theatre," Grabstas said in a recent interview with The Canadian Press.
"So that capability that the Griffon might fulfill should be addressed by NATO."
The federal cabinet, which has the ultimate authority when it comes to agreements and deployments, has apparently yet to sign off on the proposal.
The details of the arrangement are still being worked out with NATO air planners, said Grabstas, who directs support and specialist plans for the military's strategic joint staff.
Not deploying armed CH-146s overseas means they would available to protect the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Games.
Speculation that the Griffons would be deployed abroad peaked late in the spring when the federal government awarded a $25.9 million contract to L-3 Wescam Inc., of Burlington, Ont., to install an electro-optical and infrared sensor system on as many as 19 helicopters.
The air force has also conducted trials with armed Griffons, which are essentially civilian Bell 412 helicopters modified for military use.
Transport helicopters, such as the CH-47D Chinooks, are vulnerable to attack by ground fire and rocket propelled grenades when operating in war zones.
The air force has at various times over the last two years toyed with the notion of asking for attack helicopters, such as the American AH-46 Apache, to act as escorts for the medium-to-heavy aircraft the Tory government had already committed to buy.
Defence sources say the army enthusiastically supported the idea, though it lobbied for the A-1 Cobra gunship, used by the U.S. Marines.
But the idea was shelved because attack helicopters are notoriously expensive to buy and maintain, especially for an air force that's been struggling to gets its Sea King replacements delivered as well as to manage fuel costs.
The head of the Senate security and defence committee says the cost of providing the capability pales in comparison to the potential of lives being lost.
"Did you ask them how expensive Canadian lives were?" asked Liberal Senator Colin Kenny, chair of the committee.
"I'm appalled that the government is not moving ahead on its own attack helicopters that would ensure we can move independently as a nation and bring our Chinooks into hotspots and difficult landing areas.
"To me it's fundamental that if we're going to have half the capability, which is the Chinook, then we should get the other half of the capability, which is an attack helicopter."
The Canadian military, which has long relied on allies for a variety of transport and combat capabilities, has been striving for more independence in the last few years.
After a series of embarrassing stories about Canada's inability to move troops and equipment on its own, the Conservative government invested billions in four heavy-lift C-17 transport planes.
But there is a degree of political sensitivity at work in the reluctance to buy attack helicopters, which stand in contrast to the image of Canada as a peacekeeping nation.
Kenny dismissed the notion as hand-wringing.
"You've seen the ramp ceremonies for one or two soldiers, can you imagine what a ramp ceremony for 35 people would be like?" asked Kenny.
"If people are offended by the name attack helicopters, we can pass a rule and call them protect helicopters. These helicopters protect the 25 to 40 souls on a large transport and get them alive from point A to point B."
