GOOSE BAY EXPANSION: DND's VISION FADING?
Details of Allied plans for training activity at Goose Bay in the 1997
flying season once again show no signs of the projected expansion towards
18,000 sorties a year. DND has never officially revised the position in the
1994 EIS that activity levels less than 18,000 sorties a year are not
considered economically viable.
Details of each nation's planned activity were revealed in an article in The
Labradorian on 31 March. According to the article, the Allies are planning
to fly a total of 7200 sorties this season, compared to 6500 actually flown
in 1996. Flight cancellations due to bad weather are likely to reduce the
actual number flown in 1997 to a level similar to 1996.
It is now clear that neither the French, the Italians or the Belgians will
now join the Memorandum of Understanding. Apart from a one-week visit by a
French AWACS radar plane, there will be no presence by any of these nations
at Goose Bay in 1997. All three have been affected by budget constraints.
The Belgian Air Force, unable to support more than one deployment to North
America in each year, is sending its F-16s to Cold Lake Alberta this year
rather than Goose Bay. Their 1998 deployment may be to Nevada rather than
Goose Bay.
The RAF started the flying season this year with arrival of their usual nine
aircraft detachment of Tornados on 1st April. The RAF will also be
deploying Harriers to Goose Bay, in September, but these will take the place
of the Tornados, rather than be present concurrently. The Tornados are
expected to leave Goose Bay for a substantial part of the flying season, to
carry out training in Nevada and elsewhere in North America. The Harriers
can be expected to practise night low level flying using infra-red sensors
and night vision goggles. This may include night activity, including
forward air control training, at the PTA. RAF Hercules transports are also
said to be expected during the flying season rather than in their normal
deployment period in mid-winter.
The German Air Force was scheduled to arrive in the first week of April, and
as before will be the biggest user of the Goose Bay facilities, with 3
Transall transports, 12 Tornados and 18 F-4s.
The Dutch Air Force programme is similar to last year's, running from 21
April to 4 October.
Canadian Forces training at Goose Bay is once again at a low level this
year, with only four small training detachments of CF-18s due over the season.
1997 activity levels are therefore further evidence that Allied flying
training at Goose Bay is unlikely ever to reach even half the sortie rates
predicted by DND, and around which the wildlife and resource users'
avoidance programme was designed.
For the Innu, the major significance of this is that an avoidance programme
designed to accommodate twice as many flights could, arguably, have larger
avoidance areas without the safety or quality of training being affected.