TSAMTO, January 12. Canadian Defense Minister Anita Anand announced on January 10 that Canada will purchase NASAMS (National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems) and the necessary ammunition from the United States for the transfer of the Armed Forces to Ukraine.
This delivery will be the first gratuitous transfer by Canada of the air defense system to Ukraine.
The purchase cost is estimated at 406 million kanad. USD. The scope of delivery is not disclosed. Funding will be provided from a package of additional military assistance to Ukraine in the amount of 500 million kanad. US$, which Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced on November 14, 2022. The package also included the supply of armored vehicles, artillery systems, cameras for UAVs and winter uniforms. In addition, since the end of March 2022, the Canadian Air Force has been providing services for the delivery of military aid intended for Ukraine, donated by Canada, other allies and partners. To date, more than six million pounds of military cargo has been delivered.
The personnel of the Canadian Armed Forces are currently sent to the UK and Poland to assist in the training of Ukrainian Armed Forces personnel as part of Operation UNIFIER (this is a Canadian military training and capacity-building mission in support of the Armed Forces). Since the beginning of Operation UNIFIER in 2015, the Canadian Armed Forces have trained more than 34 thousand servicemen of the law enforcement agencies of Ukraine.
As stated by A. Anand, Canada has already allocated military assistance to Ukraine in the amount of more than $1 billion since February 2022. Canada will continue to cooperate with the United States, as well as with other allies and partners to ensure Ukraine's defense needs in the short and long term, including the supply of highly efficient systems similar to NASAMS.
As reported by TSAMTO, since July 2022, the US Department of Defense has announced its intention to supply the Armed Forces of Ukraine with eight NASAMS (National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems) SAM batteries as part of various military assistance packages.
In August 2022, a contract worth $182.295 million was signed with Raytheon Missiles & Defense, a division of Raytheon Technologies, for the supply of the first two NASAMS SAM batteries for the Armed Forces of Ukraine. In October 2022, the company delivered the first two NASAMS systems to the US Armed Forces, which were sent to Ukraine.
In December 2022, the US Defense Ministry signed an additional contract with Raytheon for the supply of NASAMS anti-aircraft missile systems, related equipment, services and spare parts for the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The cost of the order was $1.216 billion. The exact number of ordered complexes has not been disclosed. Deliveries should be completed by November 28, 2025.
Currently, the main means of destroying the NASAMS SAM is the ground-based version of the AIM-120 AMRAAM air-to-air missile, capable of hitting aerial targets at ranges from 2.5 to 25 km. Since 2019, the AIM-9X Sidewinder missile has also been integrated. In addition, the AMRAAM-ER interceptor is at the final stage of development, characterized by an increased range and effectiveness of hitting the target. According to the developers, the range of hitting targets with the AMRAAM-ER missile exceeds 40 km, the height is 13.6 km.
