CF-18s Finish Up Joint Training Out of CFB Comox

May 19, 2012. David Pugliese Defence Watch

CFB Comox played host to a Canadian Forces training mission aimed at honing the skills of CF-18 pilots and members of the Royal Canadian Navy. The event finished yesterday.

Here is some of the background of the training event taken from this earlier article by SPENCER ANDERSON, COMOX VALLEY ECHO:

Fifteen CF-18 jets, 26 pilots and 150 personnel from 409 Tactical Fighter Squadron at Cold Lake, Alta. are here for the Fighter Weapons Instructor Course, a multi-day training exercise involving both the fighter jets and Canadian naval ships stationed off the west coast of Vancouver Island.

Three times a day, the CF-18s will take off from 19 Wing to head to the other side of the Island, where they will practice both defensive and offensive tactics.

For the pilots, it isn’t just a routine exercise – depending on how they score, it could make or break their chances of becoming CF-18 instructional pilots, the future tactical leaders of the fighting force, said Capt. Larry Golja, commanding officer of the flight instruction course.

The naval ships will launch aircraft drones for the pilots to shoot down with live missiles, a chance for the pilots to experience using the CF-18′s powerful arsenal.

“It’s important, it gives them that realism to know what it’s really going to feel like and sound like to shoot a missile,” Golja said.

A small fleet of Alpha jets have also been contracted to take part in the exercise and will play the role of ‘bad guys’ in the exercise. The CF-18 pilots will contend with the Alphas’ electronic warfare jamming equipment, and practice ‘defending’ the naval ships from the Alphas, which will be simulating attacks.

Lt.-Col. Daniel McLeod, commanding officer of 409 Squadron, said training exercises like these are crucial, because they prepare the pilots to be battle-ready for real missions. He said one example is the Canadian Forces’ recent role in Libya, Operation Mobile, during which the CF-18s provided air support for NATO forces