Did the Canadian Armed Forces lie to the press about a fact?

A CC-130H Hercules from 424 Transport and Rescue Squadron in Trenton, Ontario, takes off at Erik Nielsen Whitehorse International Airport in Whitehorse, Yukon, on 16 February 2023. Photo: Canadian Forces Photographer https://flic.kr/p/2ohWXFm

There’s a significant factual discrepancy that was highlighted by Todd Coyne’s article for CTV News published April 8, 2025 titled “Canadian military pulls rescue planes from B.C. amid new aircraft delays” (https://www.ctvnews.ca/vancouver/article/canadian-military-pulls-rescue-planes-from-bc-amid-new-aircraft-delays/) which has ramifications for the Minister of National Defence, Chief of Defence Staff, Commander of the Royal Canadian Air Force. It seems inconceivable that officials from the Royal Canadian Air Force would lie to the press about a fact, but coupled with previous statements, something isn’t true. Whether they misled Todd Coyne of CTV, or walked back what they told Steven Chase of The Globe and Mail, the public seem to have been misinformed.

Either a second redundant CC-130H Hercules was not operating from Comox after April 2024, as the Royal Canadian Air Force told Todd Coyne in April 2025, or a CC-130H Hercules from the fleet is flying without using their Mode-S civil aviation transponder, which they told Steven Chase in August 2020, and reiterated by news release in 2022, doesn’t happen. The question is, which is it?

On any day, or any group of days, where the RCAF CC-130H Hercules fleet is located is a fact. The aircraft are tangible objects that displace air, have weight, and take up parking spaces when they’re on the ground. Their locations are black and white, true or false, facts.

Using the Mode-S transmissions from their civilian aviation transponders, which Transport Canada requires to be functional to maintain airworthiness, we can monitor their movements using an international network of thousands of radio receivers that capture the data aircraft transmit from their transponder and save it in the ADSBexchange database. The public can verify most statements about the locations of aircraft, such as when the RCAF CC-130H Hercules fleet fly between airports, unless they are flying in the most remote regions of Canada. The model of aviation transponder used on the CC-130H Hercules is too old to transmit ADS-B (GPS-derived location data) so their Mode-S transmissions are positionless, and we rely on multilateration (MLAT), calculated between four ground based receivers with the aircraft in line of sight simultaneously, to determine the aircraft’s location. Gaps in four overlapping receivers’ coverage exist in some areas (like Gander), but around the CC-130H Hercules’ usual haunts (Comox, Winnipeg, Trenton, Greenwood) the public have enough coverage to identify and track their flights.

On September 13 2020 The Globe and Mail published an article by Steven Chase “RCAF jet was broadcasting British identifier code during flights” (https://www.theglobeandmail.com/politics/article-rcaf-jet-was-broadcasting-british-identifier-code-during-flights/) which was partly researched from a conference call he and I had with the Royal Canadian Air Force, where I had to convince a RCAF Lieutenant Colonel that indeed CC-144B Challenger 144615 was transmitting the wrong Mode-S identifier for the aircraft intermittently, changing mid-flight, something they said was “impossible”. In short, I was right, and I got a thank you from the Royal Canadian Air Force for helping them find what they, evidently, couldn’t identify themselves; a wiring fault on an aircraft that the GG, PM, CDS, and others could have flown in any day of the week was causing one of two transponders aboard 144615 to malfunction.

[embed]RCAF jet was broadcasting British identifier code during flights Military says this was not an intentional attempt to mislead flight trackers but caused by an electrical glitchwww.theglobeandmail.com

During that discussion I quizzed the LCol about the RCAF hiding flights in Canada by tampering with their transponders or otherwise obfuscating their operations, and was told unambiguously that no, domestic SAR especially, would not be obfuscated by any Mode-S trickery; they were extremely clear about that.

In October 2022 the Royal Canadian Air Force also made it clear that some operational flights could be hidden from flight tracking if their mission required it, but Search and Rescue operations would not. “this is not a concern for many Canadian military flights, such as training flights or search and rescue missions”

[embed]RCAF increasing security for some operational flights The Royal Canadian Air Force is taking steps to enhance the security of its air operations.www.canada.ca

Fast forward to April 2025 when Todd Coyne asked the Royal Canadian Air Force when they withdrew their redundant pair of CC-130H Hercules, fixed wing SAR aircraft, from Comox for his article published by CTV.

[embed]Canadian military pulls rescue planes from B.C. amid new aircraft delays Western Canada has been without any dedicated search-and-rescue airplanes since the start of 2025, when the military…www.ctvnews.ca

In short, the RCAF explained while they said in 2022 that they would station two CC-130H Hercules aircraft in Comox until the CC-295 Kingfisher reached Initial Operating Capability (IOC), things changed, and they withdrew one CC-130H Hercules in September 2024, leaving one behind, and that one was removed in January 2025.

Knowing the Royal Canadian Air Force is on record stating they do not obfuscate their Search and Rescue operations in domestic airspace, we can attempt to verify that. That’s two flights from Comox, flown by two different aircraft out of twelve CC-130H Hercules aircraft, that took place in two distinct months. Anyone with a computer on the internet can fact-check this. Publicly available flight data should show before September 2024 two aircraft had arrived and conducted flights out of Comox. After September 2024 until January 2025 we should have seen one aircraft perform flights out of Comox, then none after they departed in January 2025. Identifying where the rest of the fleet is located adds context and shows how many aircraft are seemingly in maintenance from their last known position being at the depot in Abbotsford or Halifax, and an extended absence from flying. Tracking the active aircraft shows the distribution between bases.

However, I don’t see from the data what they describe in 2024. If you’re motivated enough, you can chart out the movements of all twelve RCAF CC-130H Hercules aircraft using their Mode-S transponder emissions, and identify the overlap of CC-130H Hercules presence in Comox, and I did.

Reviewing that data, we can confirm that on January 17, 2025 RCAF CC-130H Hercules 130336 flew from Comox to Winnipeg, and by process of elimination it was the only remaining CC-130H Hercules that was tasked with the SAR role which was flying out of Comox. They had arrived on December 16, 2024 and after they left, no replacement CC-130H Hercules aircraft returned, unlike previous rotations. Canadian flags on the chart below represent domestic flights to and/or from Comox on those UTC days. Little American flags represent a flight they took to Alaska for three days, but were clearly unavailable for SAR taskings since they were out of the country (January 14–16). They appear to have stopped being on alert in Comox on January 13, but however we interpret that trip, it’s a fact they flew out from Comox (to Winnipeg) as “SNAK336” on January 17, confirming part of the story; the RCAF stated the aircraft was withdrawn from SAR duty on January 14, right before we see their trip to Alaska. That part checks out.

The Canadian Armed Forces also told Todd Coyne that they withdrew one of two CC-130H Hercules aircraft that were present in Comox in September 2024, removing the prepositioned SAR redundancy they had in place, but I don’t see that. I do see 130338 stopped in Comox on a couple of days in September, but they were flying out of Calgary and returned to Winnipeg in short order.

To find an overlap in CC-130H Hercules SAR coverage out of Comox I need to reach six months earlier, back to April 2024, to show two CC-130H Hercules which seem to be on alert for fixed wing SAR taskings. That’s a pretty big discrepancy. 130336 and 130338 were both present from April 6 to April 26 2024 when 130338 went back to Winnipeg for a few weeks, and returned to Comox for 4 days in May. However you interpret that tapering off, the last time there was identifiable overlap between the fixed wing SAR aircraft deployed to Comox was Spring 2024, not September 2024.

The only caveat about this data is that, despite personal assurances given to me and documented by The Globe and Mail in 2020, and despite the statement published by the RCAF in 2022 that hiding SAR activity wasn’t something that was necessary or done, RCAF maintainers regularly don’t program the Mode-S transponders of the CC-130H Hercules fleet correctly, if at all, obfuscating their movements; they’re sloppy.

130343 (C2AFB3) was last identified landing in Abbotsford on October 23, 2023 and has not been identified since, suggesting they’re still there, which is unusual after 500+ days. Is 130343 still in Abbotsford, or is it flying with a malfunctioning or disabled Mode-S transponder? I don’t know.

130344 (C2AFBD) was identified near Greenwood Nova Scotia on April 15, 2024. It might have made it to Halifax for depot maintenance, but either way, it seems to have been unserviceable for over a year now, or it could be flying with a malfunctioning or disabled Mode-S transponder. I can’t tell.

130332 (C2AF4F) was identified near Halifax on June 16, 2024. Are they still there, undergoing deep maintenance after 300 days? Maybe, but I can’t be confident.

130339 (C2AF27) was identified arriving in Halifax on January 24, 2025. It seems reasonable that they would still be there undergoing maintenance, it’s been just over two months.

130338 (C2AF8B) was identified arriving in Abbotsford on January 29, 2025. It seems reasonable that they would still be there undergoing maintenance, it’s been just over two months.

That’s five of the fleet of twelve that appear to be under maintenance and unserviceable, still, today.

130337 (C2AF81) started using their assigned Mode-S number on April 9, 2025 after flying for over four months with an incorrectly configured transponder (29CBBF).

In the end, the Canadian Armed Forces said they withdrew one CC-130H Hercules from Comox in September 2024, and one in January 2025, but I can find no evidence they had a second CC-130H Hercules there up to September.

How could this be?

Option 1) There was no second plane in Comox that left in September, and Todd Coyne of CTV deserves an explanation. That seems unlikely.

Option 2) The plane was there, but it wasn’t using Mode-S, which is a problem that needs to be addressed. I think that is more plausible.

Remember that after deep maintenance in Halifax, 130337 was allowed to fly for over four months using an incorrectly programmed transponder, which is only one step away from disabling Mode-S entirely. One of the CC-130H Hercules which appear to have been sidelined for maintenance could have silently returned to service. The longest out of service CC-130H would be 130343, which suggests it could be the first to return to service.

What if the aircraft stationed in Comox until September 2024 had a fault with their transponder, and the squadron didn’t notice or care to fix it? Maybe whoever briefed public affairs wasn’t lying, they just don’t know the Mode-S transponder on the aircraft isn’t functional. That would allow all of the CAF’s statements to the press to be truthful, but they would still have an aircraft with a technical fault they didn’t identify themselves, and haven’t fixed, again.

Which is it?