Defence Minister Bill Blair says the first ten of 50 Armoured Combat Support Vehicles promised to Ukraine last year will be delivered to the war-torn country by this summer, but likely won’t be fully in service until the fall.Defence Minister Bill Blair says the first ten of 50 Armoured Combat Support Vehicles promised to Ukraine last year will be delivered to the war-torn country by this summer, but likely won't be fully in service until the fall.
The remarks from the defence minister come a week after a leading Ukrainian politician met with Blair and a number of Canadian lawmakers and pleaded for more armoured vehicles. She said Ukraine is interested even in armoured vehicles the Canadian military is planning to retire, regardless of their condition.
The Department of National Defence also says 67 tracked light armour vehicles out of a fleet of 140 are awaiting final demilitarization and disposal, or are being used as sources of spare parts for the 73 vehicles still in service. The pleas for more armoured vehicles come as warnings about the likelihood of a major Russian offensive in Ukraine grow louder.
At Friday's meeting of allies, held virtually, Blair also announced that Canada is donating $3 million to Ukraine for the production of drones by Ukraine's domestic defence industry.