OTTAWA—A new fighter jet “can’t arrive quickly enough” for Canada’s Air Force as it deals with aging CF-18s that are approaching the end of their useful life, the country’s top military commander says.

Gen. Jonathan Vance, the chief of defence staff, acknowledged that an old fighter and personnel shortages present challenges for the Air Force.

“The F-18 is clearly an aircraft that is one that is coming to the end of its useful life. But it’s not at the end,” Vance told the Star in a year-end interview.

“I’m real keen to get the future fighter in place as quickly as possible. Until then we’ve got the F-18. We’re going to have to invest in it to ensure that our aircrew, the RCAF, can continue to ... protect Canada and Canadians and be valued in operations,” he said.

A recent report by the federal auditor general’s office put the challenges facing the Air Force into stark focus with its findings that the CF-18s, first delivered in 1982, are increasingly obsolete. But more critically, the report said the bigger challenge was a shortage of technicians to maintain the 76 existing jets and pilots to fly them.

Vance said the military is moving to address its personnel shortages. On the pilot front, the problem isn’t attracting new recruits, he said. It’s training them and then keeping them in uniform at a time when civilian airlines are dangling the promise of big paycheques and better quality of life.

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“I’m not going to lie to you. It’s not going to be easy,” Vance said.

“There’s no way we’re ever going to be able to compete with private industry. We never have. You don’t join the military for the paycheque,” he said.

But he said the Air Force is considering a number of measures, from better compensation and benefits to addressing complaints about postings and desk jobs that contribute to drive pilots from the ranks.

Lt.-Gen. Al Meinzinger, RCAF commander, told the Commons public accounts committee in December that pilots quit because of family challenges, tempo of operations, work-life balance and geographic postings.

“My assessment is that it’s going to take us approximately five to seven years to grow the crew force. Again, a lot of the considerations are in the future. We have to stave off the attrition we’re experiencing today. We’re getting at that as a priority in terms of some of the retention ideas we have,” Meinzinger told the committee.

A tortured procurement stretching over several governments, with several false starts, has delayed the purchase of new fighters, leaving the Air Force with the CF-18s, which require 24 hours of maintenance for every hour they fly.

Jody Thomas, the deputy minister of defence, told the Commons public accounts committee in December the government now expects to release a request for proposals next spring with bids submitted in 2020 and a contract award in 2022.

Under that timeline, deliveries of 88 new fighters would occur between 2025 and 2032. “We expect to achieve initial operating capability by 2026 with nine advanced fighters ready to fulfil the NORAD mission,” Thomas said.

That still means the CF-18s have to remain airworthy and combat capable for up to 12 more years to help bridge the transition, a tall order for jets that are already three decades old.

To help augment the fleet and spread the flying hours, the federal government has purchased 18 used F-18s from Australia. The first of those aircraft is expected to arrive late winter. They will require maintenance checks and some upgrades to make them compatible with existing fleet.

National Defence expects to spend almost $3 billion to extend the life of its current fleet and to buy, operate and maintain the interim aircraft.

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The auditor general’s report noted the CF-18 has not undergone any significant upgrade to its combat capabilities since 2008. That’s because the Air Force thought they would be replaced.

Now, analysis is underway on how best to upgrade some of the CF-18s as early as 2020 in the areas of sensors, weapons, self-protection and mission support capabilities.

“Those capability upgrades are sufficient ... to keep the aircraft at an acceptable level of combat capability until the future fleet arrives,” Vance said.