Canada considers sending decommissioned air-to-ground rockets to Ukraine
Canada's opposition Conservative Party asked the government to send tens of thousands of decommissioned rockets to Ukraine instead of destroying them, CBC reported on Feb. 2.
The Canadian Defense Ministry has confirmed that the donation is under consideration.
The Canadian Armed Forces reportedly store 83,303 CRV7 air-to-ground unguided rockets, which were introduced in the 1970s and taken out of service in the early 2000s.
While Ottawa signed a contract three years ago to dispose of the rockets, the Conservatives believe they could still be of use in Ukraine.
"It's time for less talk and more action," said Pierre Poilievre, the leader of the opposition and the Conservative Party's chief.
"Instead of making Canadians pay millions of dollars to decommission these weapons," he said they should be provided to "Ukraine, who can use them in the defense of sovereignty."
A spokesperson for Canadian Defense Minister Bill Blair confirmed in a statement for the media that Justin Trudeau's government is considering the donation.
A potential obstacle in the delivery is, according to an unnamed defense official cited by CBC, that not all of the old rockets contain warheads.
"We are pursuing testing to ensure that this equipment is operationally effective and safe to transport to Ukraine before any potential donation," the spokesperson said.
According to the Canadian Defense Ministry, Ottawa has provided Ukraine with over 2.4 billion Canadian dollars ($1.8 billion) in military assistance since the outbreak of the full-scale war with Russia.
Martin Fornusek
