EXCLUSIVE: A first look at Black Hawk helicopters to patrol Canada’s borders

When it comes to enforcing Canada’s information on the borderline that stretches 9,000 km, “things hap quickly,” says the RCMP’s caput of superior and organized transgression and borderline integrity.

In a Global News exclusive, The West Block’s Mercedes Stephenson got the archetypal entree to the Black Hawk helicopters that are being wrapped and prepared for use connected Canada’s borderline patrols arsenic portion of a bid to fortify that information and respond to the U.S.‘s increasing unit to halt amerciable borderline crossings and cause trafficking.

Mathieu Bertrand, main superintendent and manager wide of superior and organized transgression and borderline integrity for the RCMP, said the unit has been assessing the force’s borderline capabilities since 2023, which was what allowed them to determination rapidly connected leasing the Black Hawks.

He added the RCMP already had an existing fig of 9 helicopters, six of which were for patrolling the border, but the Black Hawks volition summation their speed.

“Things hap rapidly connected the border,” helium said. “As you tin ideate connected a 9,000-kilometre borderline determination are immoderate situations wherever we request to determination our resources, we request to determination our resources quickly. These choppers springiness america that ability.”

The RCMP had confirmed to Global News this week that 2 of the Black Hawk models would beryllium operational arsenic of Friday, with Staff Sgt. Rob Tan from the RCMP’s exigency effect squad telling Global News they would beryllium conducting borderline patrols betwixt Canada and the U.S. starting Sunday.

“We’ll beryllium doing surveillance, successful coordination with our assets connected the ground, borderline integrity enforcement, and instrumentality immoderate actions that request to beryllium taken,” Tan said.

“A batch of the austere environments and places we can’t scope conventionally, we’ll beryllium capable to observe them and deploy into those areas.”

However, Tan added that the Black Hawks let those connected committee to fast-rope down without the chopper needing to land, giving them the quality to extract and hoist to region radical arsenic well.

He said officers person undergone grooming successful mentation for utilizing the helicopters, which volition besides let for much radical to run connected committee oregon to person much radical if enforcement is needed.

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That capableness connected the planes is simply a benefit, according to Sgt. Matthew Wells, the nationalist effect squad coordinator for the RCMP.

He said that the scope of the Black Hawks beryllium connected fuel, with the modular magnitude allowing them to question astir 6,000 km, though that tin get longer if auxiliary tanks are added.

“By extending that scope we tin present determination everybody we request and each the instrumentality we request successful 1 helicopter, what would usually instrumentality two, three, 4 trips with 1 chopper oregon aggregate helicopters,” helium said. “We tin execute the aforesaid task and ngo with 1 helicopter.”

In December 2024, the national authorities said it is proposing a associated onslaught force and an “around the clock” aerial surveillance portion for ports of introduction arsenic portion of its program to tackle issues astatine the U.S.-Canada borderline amid increasing unit from Trump.

And successful caller weeks, respective provincial governments person announced their ain responses, including Quebec which has said it was acceptable to deploy 300 officers astatine the borderline if amerciable crossings into the U.S. rise.

Asked astir borderline crossings of radical going into the United States and if the RCMP could apprehension them, Bertrand said borderline extortion cannot beryllium done conscionable connected “one side,” but having Canadian instrumentality enforcement “present” astatine the borderline is simply a benefit.

“By being contiguous connected the border, we tin deter transgression enactment from going into the United States,” Bertrand said.