CABINET has approved the purchase of two Diamond DA 40 EP single engine aircraft for the Jamaica Defence Force (JDF).

At the same time, the government has approved the sale of a Gulf Steam Air Commander aircraft that the JDF now owns.

The announcement was made by the minister of information and development, Senator Colin Campbell, at the weekly post-Cabinet press briefing held at Jamaica House.

Campbell said that since 1972, the JDF pilots have been trained in Canada at a military aviation training institution, but that a new consortium was awarded the training contract last year. This, he said, resulted in an increase in the cost to train Jamaican pilots, from approximately $165,000 to over $1 million.

“As a result, the aircraft are being acquired for the JDF to conduct fix wing pilot training at the Jamaica Military Aviation School,” the minister pointed out.

He added that the JDF was currently short of 25 pilots, and it was expected that, “with the new training to be offered here in Jamaica, we would be able to train our pilots to close the gap which exists”.

The new aircraft will be acquired at a cost of US$424,000 each, and the Gulf Stream Air Commander aircraft is being sold for US$475,000.