Ottawa is preparing to send 80,840 surplus small unarmed air-to-surface rockets and 1,300 warheads to Ukraine as pilots from the embattled nation arrive in Canada for training.
Ukraine’s Armed Forces pilots arrived in the country this week to begin fighter-lead-in-training, Defence Minister Bill Blair announced Sept. 6 from the 24th Ukraine Defense Contact Group (UDCG) meeting in Germany.
Canada has assumed leadership of the fighter-lead-in-training program, a five-year, $389 million training initiative for Ukrainian personnel, Blair said in a press release. The program is backed by the UDCG Air Force Capability Coalition (AFCC).
“What happens in Ukraine will help determine the trajectory of global security,” Blair said. “Canada’s support for Ukraine remains unwavering and we will continue to do what it takes to help Ukraine win this war.”
Canada, as part of its commitment to the AFCC, will also provide critical equipment and other support to Ukrainian air bases and fleets, the defence minister said.
Part of that support is the additional 80,840 rocket motors being prepared for shipment to Poland. The decommissioned rocket motors were previously used by the Royal Canadian Air Force on CF-18 fighter aircraft.
The donation follows Canada’s initial delivery of 2,160 CRV-7 rocket motors, pledged by Blair in June. Each CRV7 rocket can be armed with warheads that are engineered to hit a wide variety of targets from buildings to tanks to soldiers.
Canada will also be donating 970 surplus C6 machine guns and 10,500 nine-millimetre pistols from the military’s inventory, as well as chassis assemblies from 29 M113 armoured personnel carriers and 64 Coyote armoured cars, Blair said. The vehicles, which the Canadian armed forces are no longer using, will be repurposed or used for spare parts by Ukraine.
Training is currently underway for Ukrainian soldiers on the use of the armoured combat support vehicles sent by Canada at the beginning of the summer, the press release said. The vehicles were built by Canadian workers in London, Ont.
Ten ambulances will be delivered to Ukraine in September and an additional 40 troop and cargo vehicles will begin arriving in the country next spring with full delivery by the end of 2025, Blair said.
Training on Teledyne FLIR Skyranger drones donated by Canada earlier this year will begin in Ukraine this month, Blair said. The drones are valued at more than $95 million. Canada also delivered approximately $200,000 worth of IT equipment to support Ukraine’s cyber capabilities last month.
The Canadian government has committed $4.5 billion in military aid since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022.
