The Canadian Forces will need more than 350 people if it wants to create a new squadron for unmanned aircraft but the capability promised by Prime Minister Stephen Harper more than six years ago is still being studied within the military.
Defence Minister Peter MacKay has been told the drone program will require 369 personnel, according to documents obtained by the Citizen. The details of the program, called the Joint Uninhabited Surveillance and Target Acquisition System or JUSTAS, were provided to MacKay in 2010 by then Maj.-Gen. Tom Lawson in an update on how the proposed purchase was progressing.
While Lawson has since been promoted to chief of the defence staff, the top military job in the country, the JUSTAS program has fallen behind.
