Canada can reinforce Ukraine with a sufficiently heavy amount of CRV7 aviation ammunition, which it will dispose of anyway. Canadian opposition parliamentarians from the conservative party came up with this initiative.
“Instead of forcing Canadians to pay millions of dollars to write off these weapons, they should be transferred to Ukraine, which will be able to use them to protect its sovereignty,” – quoted the leader of the Conservative Party, Pierre Poialeurp CBC.
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And in this situation there are three important aspects. The first – we are not talking regarding the decision to transfer CRV7 to Ukraine, but regarding the proposals of the party that is in the opposition. The second important aspect is that the CRV7 is not a missile, but a 70 mm unguided missile based on the American Hydra 70.
CRV7 launch with Harrier
The third aspect is the number of CRV7s themselves that are available and their condition. In particular, the Canadian edition notes that a total of 83,303 of these rockets, which were put into service in the 1970s, were decommissioned in the 2000s.
According to the available information, the process of their disposal began in the summer of 2021, which was planned for six years. That is, it has been going on for 2.5 years already. As the publication writes, currently only 8,000 CRV7s are in a suitable condition and have combat parts, the rest have either already been disposed of or disassembled.
Thus, it is still too early to say that Canada is transferring CRV7 missiles to Ukraine. Because the Canadian government still has to agree to this, make the appropriate decision, conduct an inventory, conduct real tests for the reliability of really old unguided rockets, and only then hand them over.
At the same time, any help is important for the Armed Forces now, and the CRV7s can really be put to good use, instead of just ending their lives by being scrapped. In particular, the CRV7, due to the fact that it is based on the Hydra 70, can be launched from the same blocks. At the same time, these blocks with the original American missile are already integrated under the wing of Ukrainian helicopters. In addition, it is quite possible to make ground launchers – mini MLRS from the CRV7.
CRV7
In general, the CRV7 is considered a fairly successful unguided missile. Due to a more powerful engine and other changes, it was possible to achieve a greater missile range and accuracy than in the original Hydra 70.
In addition, Canada has developed its combat units under the CRV7. WDU-50001/B armor-piercing high-explosive incendiary, which is designed to destroy protected objects such as shelters for aircraft and can penetrate up to 4 meters of ground or a meter of concrete. There is also a specialized Canadian combat unit WDU-5002/B FAT for defeating tanks with tungsten steel “darts”. And also a very specific WDU-500X/B with 80 tungsten flechettes for defeating manpower and lightly armored vehicles.
Thus, if Canada decides to transfer the CRV7 to Ukraine, it is possible to be 100% sure that the Armed Forces will definitely find a use for it.
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