Canadian pilots training on Chinook helicopters over Kandahar

A spokesman for Canada's Air Force said Thursday the small number of pilots are receiving what's called "seasoning" in flying the type of helicopters that Canada will soon have.

But these are not the actual helicopters that Canada will take delivery of later in the year, the spokesman said from Ottawa.

Canada is buying six used CH-47D Chinook helicopters from the United States. Ottawa has not yet officially taken delivery of the choppers, which will cost a total of $292 million.

Canadian crews must also be trained in the care and maintenance of the Chinooks before the helicopters can be fully worked into battle planning.

"They are not expected to be operational until early 2009," said another spokesman, Maj. Dave Sullivan.

The deal was announced last August and Canadian pilots began training on the aircraft in the United States over the summer.

The Chinooks are capable of carrying heavy payloads or several dozen soldiers. Their presence will reduce the need for military convoys to carry supplies or troops over Afghanistan's treacherous, bomb-laden roads.

A total of 40 out of Canada's 97 combat deaths in Afghanistan have come from improvised explosive devices, although not all those deaths occurred during convoys.

Still, Canada is the only major country in the ISAF alliance that doesn't have its own helicopter support, forcing its troops to rely on other nations, hitching rides when they were available.

Provision of some kind of helicopter support was one of the conditions under which Parliament extended Canada's combat mission to 2011. Helicopters and unmanned surveillance aircraft were both recommended by a panel led by former Liberal cabinet minister John Manley.

The push to get battlefield helicopters into Kandahar was mired in defence bureaucracy for almost two years.

The internal debate pitted the army, eager to reduce soldiers' exposure to deadly roadside bombs, against a frustrated air force that sought a versatile aircraft, useful in more places than just Afghanistan.