The federal government announced today that it has raised nearly $ 100 million in military aid to Ukraine, Canada’s largest individual donation of military equipment to the country since the start of the Russian invasion.
The $ 98 million donation will include 20,000 155mm artillery shells, the standard NATO artillery projectile, fuses and cargo bags, Defense Minister Anita Anand said on Tuesday.
“Putin’s large-scale, illegal and inconceivable invasion of Ukraine cannot be allowed to be successful and will not be successful,” Anand said today from the Ukrainian Cultural Center in Victoria, BC.
“Through military aid, financial assistance, humanitarian aid and strong political support in international forums, Canada will continue to have its back to Ukraine.”
The 155mm shells did not come from Canada’s military reserves, but were purchased for donation, Anand said. The shells are compatible with the relatively new M-777 shells that Canada gave to Ukraine.
CBC News reported last month that Canada had sent four M-777s to the Ukrainian army to help it deal with a renewed Russian offensive from the east. The Department of National Defense has acknowledged the donation of M-777s, but has refused to disclose the number of weapons sent to Ukraine.
The donation is part of the $ 500 million in military aid to Ukraine announced in this year’s budget.
The Liberal government began deploying $ 500 million earlier this month with a donation of 50 million high-resolution satellite images, drone cameras and ammunition.
A light and mobile artillery cannon
Since Russia began its war, the federal government has provided Ukraine with military equipment for Canadian Armed Forces stocks, such as the 100 Carl-Gustaf anti-tank weapons systems and 2,000 rockets donated in late February.
Retired Lieutenant General Andrew Leslie led the internal push in the defense department to buy M-777 shells for use during the Afghan war.
Last month, Leslie said the M-777 donated to Ukraine accounted for 10% of CAF’s inventory and urged the federal government to quickly replace the donated equipment.
“This will have a 10% knock-on effect on the level of readiness and training in the Canadian Armed Forces,” he said.
The M-777 is a 155mm towed shell. While firing large shells, it was designed as an ultralight weapon by BAE Land Systems, Inc., a British arms manufacturer, in the late 1990s.
The weapon quickly became popular among the U.S. Army and Marine Corps and has been sold worldwide in several countries, most recently in India.
Western armies like it because it fits perfectly with the kind of light and mobile warfare that took place in Iraq and Afghanistan. The weapon can be easily and quickly transported by air, either hung under a helicopter and flown off the battlefield or placed on a large transport aircraft for rapid deployment to other countries.