Canada To Provide $55 Million Worth of Funding to Ukraine For IRIS-T Air Defense System Missiles

In light of Russia’s recent attacks on Ukraine’s critical infrastructure, Germany is continuing to visit NATO and Western allies to seek support for the “Immediate Action on Air Defense” (IAAD) initiative, which was launched last April to assist Kiev in meeting its air defense requirements. In this context, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius traveled to Ottawa on May 10 to meet with his Canadian counterpart, Bill Blair. Pistorius’ visit follows his May 9 trip to Washington, where he finalized the purchase of three M142 HIMARS systems for Ukraine for approximately $30 million.

According to a statement from the Canadian Ministry of Defense, the Ministers had a productive bilateral meeting and discussed a variety of issues, including Canada’s recently released defense policy update (Our North, Strong and Free), Canada-Germany defense relations, and joint efforts to assist Ukraine. Following the meeting, Minister Blair signed an agreement with his counterpart, Boris Pistorius, under which Canada will contribute CA$76 million (US$55.6 million) to Germany’s Immediate Action on Air Defense (IAAD) initiative to support Ukraine. Canada became the third country to contribute to the IAAD initiative, following the Netherlands and Belgium, which pledged more than 400 million Euros in total.

Following the signing ceremony, the Canadian Minister stated that they welcomed Germany’s initiative and that they would stand by Ukraine in the long run, saying, “Canada and Germany are close NATO Allies, united through our close defense relationship and our commitment to supporting Ukraine. Through Canada’s investment in Germany’s Immediate Action on Air Defense Initiative, we are working together to provide Ukraine with the crucial air defense systems that it needs to protect its people. I thank Minister Pistorius for his strong cooperation, and I thank the German people for their hospitality to Canadian Armed Forces members deployed to the country.”

An IRIS-T SLM belonging to the Armed Forces of Ukraine / From ArmyInform / Copyright: CC BY 4.0

According to the German Ministry of Defense, the Canadian funds will be used to purchase missiles for Ukraine’s IRIS-T air defense systems. These missiles will reach Ukraine in the coming weeks. Germany, the second-largest source of military aid to Ukraine after the United States, has provided Kiev with three IRIS-T SLM systems with a range of 40 kilometers and one IRIS-T SLS system with a range of 12 kilometers since the start of the war. In addition, German Ambassador to Ukraine Martin Jager recently announced that Berlin will provide Kiev with another IRIS-T air defense system in May. Apart from IRIS-T, other equipment that Germany has provided to Ukraine in the field of air defense include Patriot air defense systems, TRML-4D air surveillance radars, Gepard self-propelled anti-aircraft guns, Skynex air defense system, Stinger MANPADS and Strela MANPADS.

Despite all of this support and new commitments, Ukraine still requires significant amounts of air defense equipment and artillery ammunition to counter Russian pressure, which it hopes to obtain through both its own foreign ministry and the German-led Immediate Action on Air Defense Initiative. While NATO and EU members such as Poland, Italy, Spain, Romania, Greece, and Sweden can provide Kiev with the necessary equipment, Ukraine and Germany are also in talks with unnamed Asian countries. If Ukraine is unable to obtain what it seeks from the countries prioritized by the Berlin and Kiev governments, it is likely to contact Middle Eastern countries such as Jordan and Qatar, which have previously provided military aid to Ukraine.