Translation of "avion d'attaque au sol " (French → English) :

I saw that as the allies worked together to liberate Kuwait almost 23 years ago, but in 25 years in the military, from the cockpit of a ground attack aircraft to NATO headquarters and operational staffs, I saw nothing to suggest that a ban on cluster munitions would fundamentally affect interoperability.

MCA does not cover the communication between the aircraft and the ground which is currently provided by satellite-based systems.

The term ‘specialised equipment for military training’ includes military types of attack trainers, operational flight trainers, radar target trainers, radar target generators, gunnery training devices, anti-submarine warfare trainers, flight simulators (including human-rated centrifuges for pilot/astronaut training), radar trainers, instrument flight trainers, navigation trainers, missile launch trainers, target equipment, drone ‘aircraft’, armament trainers, pilotless ‘aircraft’ trainers, mobile training units and training equipment ...[+++]for ground military operations.

This activity shall not include: (a) flights performed exclusively for the transport, on official mission, of a reigning Monarch and his immediate family, Heads of State, Heads of Government and Government Ministers, of a country other than a Member State, where this is substantiated by an appropriate status indicator in the flight plan (b) military flights performed by military aircraft and customs and police flights (c) flights related to search and rescue, fire-fighting flights, humanitarian flights and emergency medical service flights authorised by the appropriate competent authority (d) any flights performed exclusively under visua ...[+++]l flight rules as defined in Annex 2 to the Chicago Convention (e) flights terminating at the aerodrome from which the aircraft has taken off and during which no intermediate landing has been made (f) training flights performed exclusively for the purpose of obtaining a licence, or a rating in the case of cockpit flight crew where this is substantiated by an appropriate remark in the flight plan provided that the flight does not serve for the transport of passengers and/or cargo or for the positioning or ferrying of the aircraft (g) flights performed exclusively for the purpose of scientific research or for the purpose of checking, testing or certifying aircraft or equipment whether airborne or ground-based (h) flights performed by aircraft with a certified maximum take-off mass of less than 5 700 kg (i) flights performed in the framework of public service obligations imposed in accordance with Regulation (EEC) No 2408/92 on routes within outermost regions, as specified in Article 299(2) of the Treaty, or on routes where the capacity offered does not exceed 30 000 seats per year (j) flights which, but for this point, would fall within this activity, performed by a commercial air transport operator operating either:

Our CF-18s, with their state of the art equipment, and NATO's AWAC aircraft, that are operated in part by Canadian crews, control the air space and guarantee the effectiveness of strikes, with the essential help of support personnel.

If they were under attack on the ground in the desert and had to call in air support to protect them and to save their lives, they could not, under those circumstances, be saying, " I am sorry; this airplane that is coming to save me, what kind of munitions will be fired?" I would not want to put that private in a position of breaking the Criminal Code of Canada by his or her actions.