Canada arms Ukraine with AIM missiles to counter Russian attacks
Photo: Canada transfers AIM missiles to Ukraine (Getty Images)
Canada will soon transfer AIM missiles to Ukraine to strengthen its air defense and counter Russian cruise missiles, according to the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense.
Read also Ukraine hosts test of classified US missile defense system
Ukraine and Canada also discussed an agreement to promote the production of drones. The countries have significant prospects for cooperation between companies in both countries. In particular, Ukraine is interested in cooperating with Canadian companies in the field of drone control.
AIM missiles
AIM missiles are American short-range air-to-air missiles. It is possible that these are AIM-9 Sidewinder missiles, which were adopted for service in 1956, have been repeatedly improved, and are still in serial production.
Air-to-air missiles are usually launched from fighter jets. However, it was previously reported that Ukrainian specialists had found a way to launch missiles from the ground.
The Ukrainian and American defense industries have created an improvised ground-based launcher that can use AIM-9 missiles.
Strengthening Ukraine's air defense
European countries have agreed to increase their assistance to Ukraine in the field of air defense, focusing on joint purchases of modern anti-aircraft systems.
Ukraine receives about 75% of the missiles for its Patriot systems through the PURL program. For other air defense systems, this figure is even higher — almost 90% of interceptor missiles are supplied under the same scheme.
Earlier, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced that in January, the Armed Forces of Ukraine received a significant package of missiles for air defense systems.
