OTTAWA – Flight testing of the air force’s long-delayed CH-148 Cyclone helicopters is set to begin next month in Nova Scotia.

The manufacturer and National Defence have agreed to the proposal, inching the politically painful program ahead for the Harper government, which has grown more impatient and vocal in its frustration over the replacement of decades-old Sea Kings.

United Technologies Corp. (NYSE:UTC), the parent company of Sikorsky Aircraft, told market analysts this week that Canadian air force pilots and technicians will begin giving the aircraft its shakedown exercises at the base in Shearwater, N.S., in early August.

The evaluation is taking place even though defence has refused to accept formal ownership of the Cyclones in what’s become a long-running dispute with Sikorsky over delays in delivering a final version of the aircraft.

At the centre of the dispute is software to run the aircraft and the variety of missions it is expected to undertake.

Sikorsky has agreed to provide the basic program and upgrades every few months until the aircraft is fully “mission ready,” but the government has refused to accept the aircraft until the final software installation.