of Air Command – Sic itur ad astra – which was the motto of the Canadian Air Force when first formed after the First World War (before it became the Royal Canadian Air Force in 1924) was retained. Though traditional insignia for the RCAF was restored in 2015, there has been no restoration of the traditional uniforms or rank structure of the historical service (apart from a rank of "Aviator", which replaced that of "Private" in 2015). On 17 April 2014, Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced that Canada was dispatching six CF-18s and military personnel to assist NATO in operations in Eastern Europe. Equipment Aircraft The Royal Canadian Air Force has about 430 aircraft in service, making it the third-largest air force in the Americas, after the United States Armed Forces, and the Brazilian Air Force. Current inventory Fixed-wing Rotary wing CT-146 are painted all black sports RCAF roundel/wordmark, Canada wordmark with civilian registration numbers. Leased and contractor aircraft The Canadian Forces have leased aircraft from vendors to help transport troops and equipment from Canada and other locations in the past decade. Transport aircraft have been leased as required. Despite RCAF marking all aircraft have civilian registration numbers. Beechcraft B300 Super King Air Two aircraft leased from Transwest Air Limited. Used by the Multi-Engine Utility Flight (MEUF) in CFB Trenton. Flown by RCAF pilots, they are used for light transport of personnel and equipment within North America. Dornier Alpha Jet Type A 16 aircraft are operated by Discovery Air Defence Services for CATS (Contracted Airborne Training Services) and are based at CFB Cold Lake and CFB Bagotville. Hawker Hunter F.58 Twelve civil aircraft are operated by Lortie Aviation, formerly Northern Lights International Airlines Ltd.. Based in CFB Cold Lake; ex-Swiss Air Force jets Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) RCAF UAS SAGEM Sperwer Designated CU-161; entered service in 2003, retired IAI Heron 3 leased in 2009 for use in Afghanistan; turned over to the Royal Australian Air Force in 2011 Canadian Army/RCN UAS BAE Systems Silver Fox Acquired in 2004 by the Canadian Forces Experimentation Centre Boeing Insitu ScanEagle Designated CU-165; operated by the Canadian Army 2008-2014 Elbit Skylark Designated CU-168; operated by the Canadian Army AeroVironment RQ-11 Raven Operated by the Canadian Army AeroVironment RQ-20 Puma Acquired in 2018; operated by the Royal Canadian Navy Prioria Robotics Maveric Operated by the Canadian Army Saab Skeldar Acquired in 2019; operated by the