Canada to provide Ukraine with over 80,000 rocket engines and 1,300 warheads
Canadian Defense Minister Bill Blair (facebook com CanadianPoliceAssociation)
Canada will supply Ukraine with a large batch of CRV-7 rocket motors, along with 1,300 warheads for these rockets, according to the Canadian government.
Canadian Defense Minister Bill Blair announced the delivery at a meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group at the Ramstein air base.
The shipment will include 80,840 CRV-7 rocket motors and 1,300 warheads. They are set to be shipped to Poland, where they are expected to arrive in the coming months.
The CRV-7 rocket motors were previously used by the Canadian Air Force on CF-18 fighter jets but were decommissioned.
Canada will also send 970 C6 machine guns and 10,500 9-mm pistols from its reserves.
At Ukraine's request, Blair also announced the donation of decommissioned chassis from 29 M113 armored personnel carriers and 64 Coyote LAVs. These will either be repurposed or used for spare parts in Ukraine.
Background
Discussions on providing Ukraine with CRV-7 rocket motors have been ongoing in Canada. They were decommissioned, but the Canadian government long hesitated to approve their transfer. In June, the Ministry of Defense confirmed the delivery of 2,000 motors to the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
The CRV-7 is a Canadian-developed, 70-mm caliber unguided air-to-surface rocket designed for strikes against ground targets. Created in the 1980s, they are considered Cold War-era weapons.
The CRV-7 rocket motors can be used to arm Ukraine’s existing helicopters, and specialized media suggest they can be adapted for ground launch systems.
