Canada announces new military donations for Ukraine

Ottawa, Jan 24 (IANS) Canadian Minister of National Defence Bill Blair has announced new military donations for Ukraine.

These donations include 10 Multirole Boats from Zodiac Hurricane Technologies, valued at approximately 20 million Canadian dollars ($14.86 million), Xinhua news agency reported, citing a news release issued on Tuesday by National Defence.

These multi-engine Rigid Hull Inflatable Boats will assist Ukraine in various maritime operations including search and rescue, troop and cargo transport, surveillance, and reconnaissance. Each boat will come with a sophisticated sensor, navigation, and communications system, the release said, adding that the delivery of these boats with training is expected to be completed by late spring 2024.

Blair further announced that starting next month, in support of Canada's membership in the F-16 Training Coalition for the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Canada will provide civilian instructors, planes, and support staff contracted from Montreal-based Top Aces Inc. to contribute to Denmark and France's training efforts.

This support is valued at approximately 15 million Canadian dollars ($11.14 million). Training will begin in February 2024 and will continue into 2025, the minister said in the release.

Since February 2022, Canada has committed over 2.4 billion Canadian dollars ($1.78 billion) in military assistance to Ukraine. This includes Leopard 2 main battle tanks, one armoured recovery vehicle, armoured combat support vehicles, anti-tank weapons, small arms, M777 howitzers and associated ammunition, high-resolution drone cameras, winter clothing, and more.