Hornets and ISIS another chapter in history

By Dan Gray

Sic Itur Ad Astra: such is the pathway to the stars. Canadians have been reaching for those stars with jet powered fighter planes for almost 70 years, from Valiants, Voodoos and Sabres to the aptly named Canuck. The Starfighters, even the doomed Avro Arrow, all paved the way for our winged protectors of today, the Hornet. The powder blue skies of more than a dozen worldwide locations have been split by the presence of silver-winged jets flown by the Royal Canadian Air Force.
The current stallion of choice that is jockeyed around the skies and deployed around the world is the CF-188 Hornet.
The nation’s Hornets have dotted the skies of Iraq once before. In 1991 their namesakes of a different generation tore through those skies in the Persian Gulf War. Highlights from that campaign include partially damaging a patrol boat with an air-to-air missile.

Offensive operations for our Hornets have not always been United Nations-sanctioned. The North American Treaty Organization, of which Canada is a founding member, chose in March of 1999 to intervene in Kosovo. Four Hornets were among a large armada of strike aircraft determined to push the Serbians out of Kosovo. The eventual deployment of 18 Hornets dropped nearly half a million pounds of munitions in 78 days of aerial bombardment. They were a highly valued asset in the aerial war because of their all-weather bomb dropping capability.

The grandiose idea of sticking a pilot into a fighter plane with a jet engine, instead of props, first occurred in Canada inside the British-designed Valiant that was purchased for service in 1948.

Canada was unable to provide any jets to the Korean War but 22 RCAF pilots took to the air with the United States Air Force. They flew in support of many operations in for the first time since the end of the Second World War. The pilots danced with primitive Russian fighters and dropped bombs, sometimes in support of Canadian Army divisions on the ground. Larry Milberry is an author and a historian who has written many books on the RCAF and its history. He relates many factual accounts of our nation’s aerial activities in his writings.

“Canadians flew against the MIGs in Korea. After that our big roles were with NORAD with the CF-100s and then the CF-101 Voodoo’s,” said Milberry. “In NATO, we flew Sabres and CF-100’s then the F-104 then finally the CF-18.”

The white dove of peace managed to skirt the threats of tactical nuclear weapons and the Cold War. Although many planes and personnel were based in Europe, our nation’s major role was to provide strategic intercept capabilities at home with NORAD.

When you ask about RCAF history you are directed to retired lieutenant-colonel Dean Black. His resume includes a masters in war history from the Royal Military College, 30 years of tactical helicopter flying and he is the current executive director of the Air Force Association of Canada.

“The problem with Canada is we have a smaller footprint people-wise, and a larger footprint country wise and we happen to be between two arch enemies, the USSR and the United States,” said Black.
Protecting our airspace at home has been the job of (NORAD) since 1957. Jet fighter aircraft have zoomed across the skies of our nation with thundering sonic booms chasing suspected and real enemies since NORAD’s inception. Upon the wings of Canucks, Canucks have taken flight. In needing to go faster, higher, and stay there, for longer the Air Force thrust itself into its golden age.

The Sabres and Canucks, so revered for being on the cutting edge of technology, soon gave way to the Voodoos and Starfighters. The highlight and darkest moment of the era belonged to the Avro Arrow.

Dancing with MIGS and long distance bombers would have been easy for an Arrow. It had the ability to reach higher clouds and slice them at almost twice the speed of sound. For the 1960s it would have been the ultimate air intercept weapon. It wasn’t meant to be and political pressure put an end to the program in 1959.

Hornets have also aggressively operated in the skies of Libya and been the armed escort for dozens of civilian aircraft since 9/11.They are currently deployed to Europe once again because of Russian provocations in Ukraine. NORAD has also required the more frequent launch of interceptors to the far north to meet an ever provocative Russian bomber or two.

Our fighter planes are now writing another chapter in the storied history of the RCAF. They are slicing through the skies of Iraq supporting Iraqi troops on the ground. Fighting Islamic State in Syria is yet another opportunity for our fighter planes to prove their worth on the front lines of battle. It’s just another step on the pathway to the stars – Sic Itur Ad Astra.