The CC-150 Polaris - essentially a militarized version of the Airbus A310 - is a multi-purpose
aircraft that’s flown by the Royal Canadian Air Force.
It serves an important role for the country, as a mid-air refueler, a long-range transporter,
and as a VIP aircraft for Canada’s leadership.
The RCAF flies 5 of these, which were originally delivered as civilian A310s to Canadian carrier
Wardair in the late 1980s.
When Wardair was acquired by Canadian Airlines a few years later, the Canadian Forces purchased
the aircraft and converted them for military use.
One of them is used as a VIP transport, and is painted accordingly.
Two others are used as freight or passenger transport aircraft, and the remaining two
have air-to-air refueling capability.
Fast forward to 2021, and all five aircraft are now well over 30 years old.
There have been some notable maintenance issues in recent years, most prominently on the
Prime Minister’s aircraft.
A replacement for the CC-150 fleet has been talked about for years, but in mid-December,
the federal government put out an ‘Invitation to Qualify’ for suppliers, to finally find
a successor for the Polaris.
Although they’re not awarding a contract to anyone just yet, as the document itself says,
it is a start to the replacement process, which will hopefully lead to an actual Request
for Proposal or RFP as soon as Fall 2021.
So, what are some potential replacements?
Well, there are a few requirements that are outlined right off the bat, namely that:
The Respondent, as defined in this ITQ, must propose an Aircraft that, at the ITQ publication
date, is operated by or being procured by a NATO country and is capable of performing
both boom and drogue air-to-air refueling (AAR) in the same flight …
That... obviously puts an end to any dreams of an Il-96 being flown by the RCAF, not that
that was very plausible to begin with.
Nevertheless, the document goes on to outline some potential scenarios for these aircraft, such as:
A theoretical tanker flight across the Atlantic, where 135,000 pounds of fuel must be offloaded
in flight to CF-188 aircraft.
These scenarios also identified some other needs, including capacity for at least 194
passengers, although that’s just the largest number of passengers in the scenarios given
and might not be a specific requirement.
So, that all being said, there are at least two viable new-build options on the market.
They are, the Airbus A330 Multi Role Tanker Transport, or MRTT, and the Boeing KC-46 Pegasus.
The A330MRTT is a platform based off of the A330-200, and currently flies with France,
the United Kingdom, Australia, and several other countries.
The KC-46 on the other hand, is based off of the 767-200, incorporating certain elements
from other 767 variants.
It’s currently in the process of entering service with the United States Air Force,
although Italy and Japan also operate KC-767s, a slightly less customized version.
The A330 MRTT is a bit larger than the CC-150 though,
and the KC-46 is a more comparable size.
However, given Boeing’s somewhat frosty relationship with the government of Canada,
one of those options seems more likely than the other.
Nevertheless, officials from Boeing have said as far back as 2017 that they would most likely
bid the KC-46 as a replacement, in what could be a $1.5 billion dollar contract.
These new-build options aside, there are reports that the government is considering the second-hand
market to replace these aircraft, possibly working it into some sort of
Covid relief program.
The lack of government action when it comes to Canada’s aviation industry is a whole
other story, but this does have some potential for certain Canadian airlines.
Obviously, no tanker version of the Triple Seven or 787 currently exists, so under the
terms of the ITQ, those most likely wouldn’t qualify, and I don’t think Air Canada or
WestJet would be so willing to part with them.
However, there are a few A330s flying within Canada that are worth looking at.
Montreal-based Air Transat operates a mixed fleet of A330-200s and A330-300s,
and Air Canada also operates the larger variant only.
Two A330 MRTTs belonging to the Royal Australian Air Force had actually been flown by Qantas
previously, and were converted for military use in 2015 after serving the airline for 8 years.
Although the A330 MRTT is based off of the -200 variant only, it’s not exactly clear
if a theoretical -300 version would meet the requirements since it is still an A330.
Even then, there’s a chance that an A330-300 MRTT would be too large for Canada’s needs.
So, with that in mind, it seems like Air Transat’s A330-200s do have some potential.
Those aircraft range between 12 and 22 years of age, and there are 5 of them that are 15
years old or less.
The issue with that idea is, it’s kind of delaying the inevitable, and that goes for
converting other types as well, like Air Canada’s retired 767 fleet.
Speaking of 767s though, another widebody operator in Canada is Cargojet Airways, which
flies freight on 757s and 767s.
The latter could be more suitable for the role, given that they have a cargo door, but
again, the youngest of these is already 20 years old.
The CC-150s were previously estimated to be retired around 2026, so any second hand purchase
would still need to be relatively new.
Whatever the CC-150 replacement may be, it’ll have an important role for decades to come,
and aircraft that have already had years of service and higher cycles with airlines, will
need replacements of their own even sooner.
The lower acquisition costs could be beneficial in the short-term,
but maybe not so much in the future.
What are your thoughts on this?
Do you think the A330 MRTT or the KC-46 is the better choice for Canada’s CC-150 replacement,
or could it be something else entirely?
Let me know in the comments down below.
Also, I just wanted to give a quick thank you to my good friend Mark Brandon, who supplied
all of the extra CC150 footage.
Videos like this wouldn’t be possible without his help, so do go check out his channel.
Otherwise though, thanks for watching!
Leave a like, subscribe, consider becoming a channel member,
and I’ll see you next time.