410 Tactical Fighter Operational Training Squadron - Operational Training

Operational Training

No. 410 Squadron is now (2010) a Royal Canadian Air Force aircraft squadron located at Canada's primary CF-18 training base at Cold Lake, Alberta. In 1982, the squadron was renamed 410 Tactical Fighter (Operational Training) Squadron. It runs one fighter pilot course every year, training approximately 20 pilots. The training program consists of nine months of ground school, simulator flights, and operational flying. Students are taken from among the graduates of a Fighter Lead-In Training Course and are provided with the knowledge of basic skills in both air-to-air and air-to-ground combat. Areas covered in depth include aircraft handling, instrument flight, formation flying, night flying, navigation, air-to-air refuelling, and weapons delivery and tactics.

There is also an annual Fighter Weapons Instructor Course (FWIC) run by No. 410 Squadron, and a Fighter Electronic Warfare and Advanced Radar (FEWAR) Course. The intense and highly challenging FWIC lasts for three months. Each operational CF-18 squadron and tactical radar squadron sends candidates (eight students per course) who graduate with the leadership qualities and expertise required to return to their squadrons and design tactical training programs themselves. The Advanced Radar Course is conducted in two phases: ground school at 4 Wing, Cold Lake, and a flying phase at an electronic warfare range. This three-week course is designed to allow ten pilots annually to graduate and return to their squadrons as electronic warfare experts and instructors. Since No. 410 Squadron has always had some of the most experienced CF-18 pilots in the fighter community, it is often charged with carrying out special fighter projects. The squadron conducted the operational testing and evaluation of the CF's precision guided munitions, and in 2010 was anticipating testing the use of night vision devices in the Hornet.