Canada is close to making a final decision on supplying Ukraine with decommissioned CRV7 rockets, which are based on the US Hydra 70. This was stated by Canadian Defense Minister Bill Blair at a briefing in Edmonton.
The Canadian Ministry of Defense is currently assessing how safe it is to transport the CRV7 and how best to do so.
To recap, Canada has revealed details of new defense assistance, including training for Ukrainian pilots
"The safety assessment process will take several days. We are working now to make sure that this ammunition can be safely transported. Once we have everything figured out, it will be just a matter of a few days. We will do everything we can to get this resource to Ukraine as quickly as possible," Blair said.
In February, Canadian opposition MPs from the Conservative Party came up with an initiative to supply Ukraine with a significant amount of aviation ammunition. So far, Canada has been disposing of CRV7s, a process that began in the summer of 2021. Canadian journalists claimed that currently only 8,000 CRV7s are in good condition and have combat parts, while the rest have either been destroyed or dismantled.
“Instead of making Canadians pay millions of dollars to decommission these weapons, common sense Conservatives are calling on the Trudeau government to give these weapons to Ukraine who can use them in the defense of their sovereignty,” Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre said at the time.
Because the CRV7 is based on the Hydra 70, it can be launched from the same blocks. These blocks with the original American rockets are already integrated under the wing of Ukrainian helicopters. In addition, the CRV7 can be used to make ground-launched mini-MRLSs.
Overall, the CRV7 is considered to be a fairly successful unguided rocket. Due to a more powerful engine and other changes, its range and accuracy are greater than those of the original Hydra 70.