Having welcomed his counterpart coming from Germany, Canadian Minister of National Defense Bill Blair has announced a contribution of $76 million to the Immediate Action on Air Defence (IAAD) — Berlin's initiative to raise funds for anti-aircraft systems and supplies earmarked for Ukraine.
"This initiative, launched by Germany in April 2024, pools money and resources from the international community to quickly source and deliver air defense systems for Ukraine. These systems will help defend against Russian aerial attacks that have killed thousands of Ukrainians and destroyed hospitals, power plants and apartment blocks," reads the statement published on the Canadian defense ministry's website.
Read more: Strengthening the Ukrainian Army: The New US Aid Package May Include FrankenSAM and ATACMS
The exact items funded with the Canadian allocation are not specified, although the German Ministry of Defense mentions "it will help with procurement projects such as air defense missiles in the coming weeks." On a note from Defense Express, this also means the supplies are to arrive in Ukraine shortly, instead of being placed as an order to an air defense manufacturer; possibly coming from the stocks of an unnamed country.
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"Canada’s contribution to the German IAAD initiative is just one way that Canada and Germany are working together to support Ukraine," the Canadian side stresses as it reminds that "Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) members are currently deployed to Germany as part of the Security Assistance Group – Ukraine, which is helping to facilitate the transfer of aid to Ukraine, working to align future donations with Ukraine’s needs, and planning for the immediate and longer-term training needs of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
Apart from Canada, other major donors within the IAAD include Denmark, the Netherlands, and Germany itself.
Besides the issues of helping Ukraine, German Minister of Defense Boris Pistorius crossed the Atlantic to discuss the eastern flank of NATO in Europe, particularly the deployment Canada and Germany respectively share in Latvia and Lithuania which is set to be expanded to a full-fledged brigade, a project facing difficulties on Berlin's side. Other topics for discussion were the upcoming joint Indo-Pacific Deployment 2024 exercise and Ottawa's new defense policy strategy, called Our North, Strong and Free.
Read more: Germany Seeks Additional Air Defense Systems for Ukraine
