The larger of the two new projects, valued at €33 million ($36 million), will build a dedicated rotary-wing apron and flight line at Lielvārde, a military airbase located roughly 60 kilometers southeast of Riga. The facility will include hangar space, maintenance infrastructure, and flight line office facilities designed to support Canada’s Tactical Air Detachment in Latvia.
The operational footprint is specific: the new apron will accommodate up to six CH-146 Griffon utility helicopters and four CH-147 Chinook heavy-lift helicopters simultaneously, while also providing ground support for loading and unloading of larger aircraft including the CC-177 Globemaster, Canada’s strategic transport jet. That combination of rotary and fixed-wing support infrastructure gives the Canadian force a meaningful increase in its ability to move troops, equipment, and supplies around the battlespace without depending on host-nation facilities.