Canada has announced a significant increase in military assistance to Ukraine, including a new shipment of weaponry and equipment. On Friday, Minister of National Defence Bill Blair revealed that Canada will donate and transport 80,840 additional CRV-7 rocket motors and 1,300 warheads to Ukraine. Canada is preparing to ship this new batch of rocket motors to Poland, following its earlier delivery of 2,160 CRV-7 rocket motors. The arrival is expected in the coming months.
In addition to the rocket motors, Canada will provide Ukraine with 970 surplus C6 machine guns and 10,500 surplus 9mm pistols from its inventory. In response to a specific request from Ukraine, Canada will also donate decommissioned chassis from 29 M113s and 64 Coyote LAVs. Ukrainian forces will repurpose these chassis or use them for spare parts.
Since 2022, Canada has committed CAD 4.5 billion (USD 3.3 billion) in military assistance to Ukraine. Blair made the announcement while attending the 24th Ukraine Defence Contact Group meeting at Ramstein Air Base in Germany.
Lead-in Fighter Training
Blair noted that this week, Ukrainian pilots arrived in Canada to begin training under the Lead-in Fighter Training (LIFT) program, which Canada is leading as part of an aviation coalition. An allocation of CAD 389 million supports this initiative for training Ukrainian F-16 pilots.
In February 2024, Ukraine had requested Canada to transfer CRV-7 unguided air defense missiles. Canada had over 83,000 of these decommissioned missiles stored in Dundurn, Saskatchewan, awaiting disposal.
Blair also updated on previous aid packages, stating that the first batch of ACSV APCs in medical configuration has already arrived in Europe, and training for the Ukrainian Armed Forces on these vehicles is underway.
Additionally, the Ukrainian Armed Forces will begin training with Teledyne FLIR Skyranger drones this month. Canada had announced the delivery of the first 450 of these drones in April 2024. In August, Canada also provided nearly CAD 200,000 worth of IT equipment to bolster Ukraine’s cyber capabilities.
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