The Canadian Minister of National Defence Anita Anand announced that Canada is purchasing a National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System (NASAMS) and associated munitions from the United States to donate to Ukraine. This high-priority donation is the first Canadian donation of an air defence system to Ukraine. A NASAMS is a short to medium range ground-based air defence system that protects against drone, missile, and aircraft attack, with a high success rate. Canada’s NASAMS donation will help Ukraine strengthen its air defence systems against destructive air attacks on military sites, civilian critical infrastructure, and population centres.
“Canada stands in solidarity with Ukrainians as they fight heroically against Russia’s illegal and unjustifiable invasion. We have committed over $1 billion in military assistance to Ukraine, and today, we are moving forward with the first Canadian donation of an air defence system to Ukraine. Canada will continue to collaborate with the United States, as well as other Allies and partners, to address Ukraine’s defence priorities in the short and long term – including with high-capability equipment such as the NASAMS,” The Honourable Anita Anand, Minister of National Defence said.
This donation, valued at approximately $406 million, comes from the additional $500 million in military aid to Ukraine that Prime Minister Trudeau announced on November 14, 2022. The donation builds on Canada’s longstanding military support to Ukraine, including donations of armoured vehicles, artillery, drone cameras, and winter clothing, and ongoing efforts by the Royal Canadian Air Force to transport Ukraine-bound military aid donated by Canada, Allies, and partners. Canada remains committed to providing Ukraine with the military aid that it needs to defend itself from Russia’s illegal and unjustifiable attacks, including intensifying Russian air raids.
NASAMS is a distributed and networked short- to medium-range:?4? ground-based air defense system developed by Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace (KDA) and Raytheon. The system defends against unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), helicopters, cruise missiles, unmanned combat aerial vehicles (UCAVs), and fixed wing aircraft,:?11? firing any of a wide range of existing missiles. NASAMS was the first application of a surface-launched AIM-120 AMRAAM (Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missile). NASAMS 2 is an upgraded version of the system capable of using Link 16, which has been operational since 2007. As of 2022, NASAMS 3 is the latest upgrade; deployed in 2019, it adds capability to fire AIM-9 Sidewinder and IRIS-T SLS short-range missiles (25 km (16 mi)) and AMRAAM-ER extended-range missiles (50 km (31 mi)[2]), and introduces mobile air-liftable launchers.
