Canada’s iconic aerobatic team faces a multi-year pause as the air force waits for replacement jets.
Canada’s Snowbirds aerobatic squadron will be grounded following its 2026 flying season while the Royal Canadian Air Force waits for new aircraft, Defence Minister David McGuinty announced this morning in Moose Jaw.
McGuinty made the announcement at 15 Wing Moose Jaw, Sask., alongside Lt.-Gen. Jamie Speiser-Blanchet, Commander of the Royal Canadian Air Force. He did not specify how long the grounding would last.
The Swiss-made, turbo-prop CT-157 Siskin II has been selected to replace the squadron’s aging CT-114 Tutor jets, which have been in air force service since the 1960s. The Siskin II is already on order and being delivered for use in the air force’s initial pilot training program.
The plan is to add extra aircraft to the existing order – a process that means the Snowbirds could remain grounded until the early 2030s before returning to air shows.
McGuinty said the air force will continue to support air shows during the downtime by drawing from operational fleets.
Two years ago, then-defence minister Bill Blair ordered a review of military equipment that had become difficult and costly to maintain, including the Snowbirds. Blair said at the time that the six-decade-old Tutor jets – which had received a life extension to 2021 and a more recent additional upgrade – had been in service too long and needed replacing.
McGuinty said Canadians can “rest assured” the Snowbirds’ future is secure.
*with files from CBC*
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