Captain David Pletz of Canada poses in front of his fighter jet before the visit of new NATO Secretary-General at the NATO troops stationed at the Lask air base on Oct. 6, 2014.JANEK SKARZYNSKI/AFP / Getty Images
Canadian civilians could end up being deployed as part of this country's combat mission against Islamic State militants.
THE CANADIAN MISSION: WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW
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- Who are Islamic State? Get caught up with The Globe’s primer
One of the military planes that will be dispatched on the mission is a Polaris CC-150T refuelling tanker. Its job will be to keep the six CF-18 fighter jets supplied with fuel as they strike targets.
The government says the CC-150T is maintained by private contractors. L-3 MAS Communications and partner firm Avianor Inc. are responsible for providing complete in-service support for the refuelling plane and the rest of the Department of National Defence's fleet of CC-150 Polaris Airbuses.
A spokeswoman for Defence Minister Rob Nicholson could not immediately say how many civilians would be part of the deployment.
A spokeswoman for L-3 referred questions to the Royal Canadian Air Force.
The Canadian military planes will be serviced and supported at a staging base in the region. The British are using their Royal Air Force base in Cyprus and the Australians are operating out of a base in the United Arab Emirates. Canada has not announced where the Canadian mission will be located but has dispatched an advance team to plan for the deployment.
It could take three weeks before Canada's mission is up and running, government sources have said.
Canada is deploying about 600 Canadian Armed Forces personnel as part of this combat mission. This includes support and service staff for the CF-18 fighters and military surveillance aircraft.
Steven Chase