Canada Prepares CH-147F Chinooks for Arctic Airlift and Defense Operations in Harsh Subzero Conditions
{loadposition bannertop}
{loadposition sidebarpub}
Canada’s Department of National Defence confirmed that Operation NANOOK-NUNALIVUT 2026 is projecting forces across the Arctic archipelago, with CH-147F Chinook helicopters moving troops and equipment around Cambridge Bay, Nunavut. The parallel use of AH-64E Apache attack helicopters in Alaska signals that Arctic combat aviation is becoming a central pillar of North American defense strategy.
On February 23, 2026, Canada’s Department of National Defence, through its Western Sentinel regional newspaper, detailed how Operation NANOOK-NUNALIVUT 2026 is projecting forces across the Arctic archipelago to reinforce national sovereignty. Against this backdrop, recent imagery from Canadian Armed Forces Combat Camera shows heavy-lift CH-147F Chinook helicopters shuttling troops and equipment around Cambridge Bay in Nunavut’s frozen landscape. These flights underscore how rotary-wing airlift has become central to Canada’s ability to move rapidly in a region where distances are vast and ground mobility is limited. The same week, an Army Recognition report highlighted that the U.S. Army is putting its AH-64E Apache attack helicopters through deep-attack drills in Alaska’s Yukon Training Area, confirming that Arctic combat aviation is rapidly becoming a priority for North American allies.
Follow Army Recognition on Google News at this link
Canada is using CH-147F Chinook helicopters to project forces across its Arctic territory during Operation NANOOK-NUNALIVUT 2026, while the U.S. Army simultaneously trains AH-64E Apache crews for deep-attack missions in Alaska, highlighting a growing North American focus on cold-weather combat aviation (Picture Source: Canadian Armed Forces Combat Camera)
Recent imagery from Cambridge Bay shows a member of the 1 Combat Engineer Regiment on a snowmobile as a CH-147F hovers overhead during deployment to Operation NANOOK-NUNALIVUT, a yearly series of drills designed to demonstrate Canada’s ability to defend its northern approaches. According to the Western Sentinel article, 3rd Canadian Division has pushed around 750 soldiers and nearly 200 vehicles and major equipment pieces into the High North, as part of a wider deployment of up to 1,300 personnel across the Northwest Territories, Nunavut and Yukon, with activities concentrated around Cambridge Bay and the Amundsen Gulf. Within this joint and combined framework, the CH-147F, operated by 450 Tactical Helicopter Squadron based in Petawawa, provides the vertical mobility that binds together dispersed patrols, artillery detachments and logistics hubs in temperatures that plunge well below freezing and where conventional wheeled transport can be slowed by snow, ice and the absence of roads.
The CH-147F Chinook is the most advanced international variant of the CH-47 family, tailored to Canadian requirements with long-range fuel tanks, a strengthened airframe, upgraded electrical system and a fully integrated digital avionics suite designed for demanding tactical profiles. The aircraft can transport up to 45 troops or around 11–12.7 tonnes of cargo internally or underslung, at speeds of more than 300 km/h and a range of roughly 1,100–1,200 km, giving planners the ability to leapfrog forces between coastal communities, inland training areas and remote observation posts in a single sortie.
Cold-weather suitability has been progressively validated: earlier test campaigns flew CH-147F helicopters from Petawawa to Canadian Forces Station Alert and across Nunavut to verify navigation systems and performance at extreme latitudes, paving the way for routine operations in the Arctic environment now seen during Nanook-Nunalivut. While fixed-wing assets like ski-equipped LC-130H Hercules can land on frozen lakes in support of the exercise, the Chinook’s ability to insert directly onto snow-covered, unprepared landing zones gives commanders a more flexible tool for inserting and sustaining ground forces in austere locations.
The Chinook’s role in Nanook-Nunalivut is to turn what would otherwise be isolated Arctic patrols into a coherent, mutually supporting force. Western Sentinel reports that this year’s iteration includes the first deployment of M777 155 mm howitzers north of the 60th parallel, with artillery testing and live firing around Cambridge Bay. Heavy-lift helicopters are crucial in assembling such a fires network, able to move gun crews, ammunition pallets, light vehicles and even over-snow platforms like BV-206 all-terrain carriers between staging points and firing positions.
Previous Arctic operations and training events have already demonstrated the CH-147F’s ability to sling-load tracked vehicles and conduct airlifts for Canadian Special Operations Regiment detachments and Canadian Rangers across long distances in the North. During Nanook-Nunalivut 2026, similar air mobility allows land units, Rangers and partner contingents from the United States, Belgium, France and Denmark to rehearse joint manoeuvres as a single task force despite being spread across multiple communities and training areas.
From a tactical standpoint, CH-147F operations in this context are about more than simple transport; they are a key enabler of persistent presence and rapid concentration of combat power. In an environment where weather can change within minutes and daylight is limited for large parts of the year, a heavy-lift helicopter with advanced navigation, de-icing and self-protection systems provides a resilient link between small detachments on the ground and higher-level command nodes.
The ability to insert engineers to establish fuel caches, move artillery to newly surveyed firing points, evacuate casualties or reposition reconnaissance teams along the Northwest Passage gives Canadian forces options that would otherwise require days of overland movement. For joint exercises focusing on Arctic surveillance, sovereignty patrols and the protection of critical infrastructure, that agility directly translates into an improved capacity to detect, deter and, if necessary, respond to incursions or emergencies across a huge operating area.
The presence of CH-147F Chinooks over Cambridge Bay aligns with wider Canadian policy frameworks such as “Our North, Strong and Free” and the Arctic and Northern Policy Framework, which emphasize a stronger, better-equipped military presence in the North, closer cooperation with partners and improved domain awareness. Operation NANOOK-NUNALIVUT 2026 is explicitly framed as supporting these goals, with Western Sentinel highlighting its role in asserting sovereignty, reinforcing alliances such as NATO and NORAD and preparing for future infrastructure and operational developments in the Arctic.
Parallel developments south of the border show a similar trajectory: according to Army Recognition’s February 23, 2026 report, AH-64E Apache helicopters from the U.S. Army’s 11th Airborne Division recently executed nighttime deep-attack missions in extreme subzero conditions over Alaska’s Yukon Training Area during the JPMRC 26-02 exercise, using cold-weather modifications such as landing-gear skis and survival pods to operate from snow-covered pads. Together, heavy-lift Chinooks in Canada and ski-equipped Apaches in Alaska point to a broader North American effort to treat the Arctic not as a peripheral training ground, but as a theatre where advanced rotary-wing forces must be ready to fight, support ground manoeuvre and integrate into multi-domain defence architectures.
These converging trends send a clear signal: as climate change opens sea routes and increases interest in Arctic resources, the region is no longer a distant buffer but a frontline for national defence and alliance commitments. For Canada, CH-147F Chinooks flying in support of Operation NANOOK-NUNALIVUT 2026 demonstrate that sovereignty patrols, artillery deployments and joint exercises can be sustained at scale in remote communities like Cambridge Bay. For the United States, AH-64E deep-attack profiles in Alaska show that attack aviation can deliver precision fires and support air assaults in the same hostile environment. Together, these developments reshape the Arctic from a logistical challenge into an operationally accessible domain, underlining that heavy-lift and attack helicopters will be central to how North American and allied forces secure the High North in the years ahead.
Written by Teoman S. Nicanci – Defense Analyst, Army Recognition Group
Teoman S. Nicanci holds degrees in Political Science, Comparative and International Politics, and International Relations and Diplomacy from leading Belgian universities, with research focused on Russian strategic behavior, defense technology, and modern warfare. He is a defense analyst at Army Recognition, specializing in the global defense industry, military armament, and emerging defense technologies.
{loadposition bannertop}
{loadposition sidebarpub}
Canada’s Department of National Defence confirmed that Operation NANOOK-NUNALIVUT 2026 is projecting forces across the Arctic archipelago, with CH-147F Chinook helicopters moving troops and equipment around Cambridge Bay, Nunavut. The parallel use of AH-64E Apache attack helicopters in Alaska signals that Arctic combat aviation is becoming a central pillar of North American defense strategy.
On February 23, 2026, Canada’s Department of National Defence, through its Western Sentinel regional newspaper, detailed how Operation NANOOK-NUNALIVUT 2026 is projecting forces across the Arctic archipelago to reinforce national sovereignty. Against this backdrop, recent imagery from Canadian Armed Forces Combat Camera shows heavy-lift CH-147F Chinook helicopters shuttling troops and equipment around Cambridge Bay in Nunavut’s frozen landscape. These flights underscore how rotary-wing airlift has become central to Canada’s ability to move rapidly in a region where distances are vast and ground mobility is limited. The same week, an Army Recognition report highlighted that the U.S. Army is putting its AH-64E Apache attack helicopters through deep-attack drills in Alaska’s Yukon Training Area, confirming that Arctic combat aviation is rapidly becoming a priority for North American allies.
Canada is using CH-147F Chinook helicopters to project forces across its Arctic territory during Operation NANOOK-NUNALIVUT 2026, while the U.S. Army simultaneously trains AH-64E Apache crews for deep-attack missions in Alaska, highlighting a growing North American focus on cold-weather combat aviation (Picture Source: Canadian Armed Forces Combat Camera)
Recent imagery from Cambridge Bay shows a member of the 1 Combat Engineer Regiment on a snowmobile as a CH-147F hovers overhead during deployment to Operation NANOOK-NUNALIVUT, a yearly series of drills designed to demonstrate Canada’s ability to defend its northern approaches. According to the Western Sentinel article, 3rd Canadian Division has pushed around 750 soldiers and nearly 200 vehicles and major equipment pieces into the High North, as part of a wider deployment of up to 1,300 personnel across the Northwest Territories, Nunavut and Yukon, with activities concentrated around Cambridge Bay and the Amundsen Gulf. Within this joint and combined framework, the CH-147F, operated by 450 Tactical Helicopter Squadron based in Petawawa, provides the vertical mobility that binds together dispersed patrols, artillery detachments and logistics hubs in temperatures that plunge well below freezing and where conventional wheeled transport can be slowed by snow, ice and the absence of roads.
The CH-147F Chinook is the most advanced international variant of the CH-47 family, tailored to Canadian requirements with long-range fuel tanks, a strengthened airframe, upgraded electrical system and a fully integrated digital avionics suite designed for demanding tactical profiles. The aircraft can transport up to 45 troops or around 11–12.7 tonnes of cargo internally or underslung, at speeds of more than 300 km/h and a range of roughly 1,100–1,200 km, giving planners the ability to leapfrog forces between coastal communities, inland training areas and remote observation posts in a single sortie.
Cold-weather suitability has been progressively validated: earlier test campaigns flew CH-147F helicopters from Petawawa to Canadian Forces Station Alert and across Nunavut to verify navigation systems and performance at extreme latitudes, paving the way for routine operations in the Arctic environment now seen during Nanook-Nunalivut. While fixed-wing assets like ski-equipped LC-130H Hercules can land on frozen lakes in support of the exercise, the Chinook’s ability to insert directly onto snow-covered, unprepared landing zones gives commanders a more flexible tool for inserting and sustaining ground forces in austere locations.
The Chinook’s role in Nanook-Nunalivut is to turn what would otherwise be isolated Arctic patrols into a coherent, mutually supporting force. Western Sentinel reports that this year’s iteration includes the first deployment of M777 155 mm howitzers north of the 60th parallel, with artillery testing and live firing around Cambridge Bay. Heavy-lift helicopters are crucial in assembling such a fires network, able to move gun crews, ammunition pallets, light vehicles and even over-snow platforms like BV-206 all-terrain carriers between staging points and firing positions.
Previous Arctic operations and training events have already demonstrated the CH-147F’s ability to sling-load tracked vehicles and conduct airlifts for Canadian Special Operations Regiment detachments and Canadian Rangers across long distances in the North. During Nanook-Nunalivut 2026, similar air mobility allows land units, Rangers and partner contingents from the United States, Belgium, France and Denmark to rehearse joint manoeuvres as a single task force despite being spread across multiple communities and training areas.
From a tactical standpoint, CH-147F operations in this context are about more than simple transport; they are a key enabler of persistent presence and rapid concentration of combat power. In an environment where weather can change within minutes and daylight is limited for large parts of the year, a heavy-lift helicopter with advanced navigation, de-icing and self-protection systems provides a resilient link between small detachments on the ground and higher-level command nodes.
The ability to insert engineers to establish fuel caches, move artillery to newly surveyed firing points, evacuate casualties or reposition reconnaissance teams along the Northwest Passage gives Canadian forces options that would otherwise require days of overland movement. For joint exercises focusing on Arctic surveillance, sovereignty patrols and the protection of critical infrastructure, that agility directly translates into an improved capacity to detect, deter and, if necessary, respond to incursions or emergencies across a huge operating area.
The presence of CH-147F Chinooks over Cambridge Bay aligns with wider Canadian policy frameworks such as “Our North, Strong and Free” and the Arctic and Northern Policy Framework, which emphasize a stronger, better-equipped military presence in the North, closer cooperation with partners and improved domain awareness. Operation NANOOK-NUNALIVUT 2026 is explicitly framed as supporting these goals, with Western Sentinel highlighting its role in asserting sovereignty, reinforcing alliances such as NATO and NORAD and preparing for future infrastructure and operational developments in the Arctic.
Parallel developments south of the border show a similar trajectory: according to Army Recognition’s February 23, 2026 report, AH-64E Apache helicopters from the U.S. Army’s 11th Airborne Division recently executed nighttime deep-attack missions in extreme subzero conditions over Alaska’s Yukon Training Area during the JPMRC 26-02 exercise, using cold-weather modifications such as landing-gear skis and survival pods to operate from snow-covered pads. Together, heavy-lift Chinooks in Canada and ski-equipped Apaches in Alaska point to a broader North American effort to treat the Arctic not as a peripheral training ground, but as a theatre where advanced rotary-wing forces must be ready to fight, support ground manoeuvre and integrate into multi-domain defence architectures.
These converging trends send a clear signal: as climate change opens sea routes and increases interest in Arctic resources, the region is no longer a distant buffer but a frontline for national defence and alliance commitments. For Canada, CH-147F Chinooks flying in support of Operation NANOOK-NUNALIVUT 2026 demonstrate that sovereignty patrols, artillery deployments and joint exercises can be sustained at scale in remote communities like Cambridge Bay. For the United States, AH-64E deep-attack profiles in Alaska show that attack aviation can deliver precision fires and support air assaults in the same hostile environment. Together, these developments reshape the Arctic from a logistical challenge into an operationally accessible domain, underlining that heavy-lift and attack helicopters will be central to how North American and allied forces secure the High North in the years ahead.
Written by Teoman S. Nicanci – Defense Analyst, Army Recognition Group
Teoman S. Nicanci holds degrees in Political Science, Comparative and International Politics, and International Relations and Diplomacy from leading Belgian universities, with research focused on Russian strategic behavior, defense technology, and modern warfare. He is a defense analyst at Army Recognition, specializing in the global defense industry, military armament, and emerging defense technologies.
