Ottawa’s proposed defense budget would expand military drone and counter-drone capabilities over five years amid growing cooperation with Kyiv.

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Canada plans to invest at least C$2.3 billion ($1.8 billion) over five years in military drones and counter-drone systems, according to its proposed 2026 federal budget, as Ottawa expands defense cooperation with Ukraine.

The funding would allow Canada’s Department of National Defense to accelerate the development, procurement, and deployment of unmanned systems and technologies designed to counter them.

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Canada and Ukraine also reached agreements on joint drone production, military assistance and air defense support.

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  • DaddleDew@lemmy.world
    7·
    7 hours ago

    Only five years ago we were teaching them how to dig in defensive positions and ambush invaders. Now they’re teaching us how to fight a war in modern days.

    Is that how proud parents feel like?

    • [object Object]@lemmy.ca
      3·
      6 hours ago

      I think that’s how a proud alliance should feel.

      I don’t look at Ukraine as a child state, I see them as our cousin, but the kind of cousin who you wrestle with and teach new moves to and learn from.

  • 𝕱𝖎𝖗𝖊𝖜𝖎𝖙𝖈𝖍@lemmy.world
    5·
    7 hours ago

    The details can be debated, but this is good overall. Drone warfare is the next stage of warfare and any country who doesn’t realize that is going to be in for a rude awakening. Sending them to Ukraine allows us to battle test them without moral objection

  • kbal@fedia.io
    1·
    7 hours ago

    Ottawa pledging to send one-third of Canadian-made drones to Kyiv

    One third? It ought to be more like nine tenths. Producing a lot of drones is a pointless waste of resources unless they’re going to be sent where they’re needed. When it comes to national defence of Canada itself, research and development of better drones might provide a much better return on investment compared to actually producing them in quantity.

    • Scotty@scribe.disroot.orgOP
      3·
      7 hours ago

      I am not so sure whether return on investment is the sole - or even most important - point here. First, Ukraine will need production hubs outside the country because they can’t be attacked by Russia; and second, Canada needs own production capabilities for its sovereignty (European countries like Denmark have been establishing similar hubs, some of them also in cooperation with Ukraine afaik).

      • kbal@fedia.io
        2·
        6 hours ago

        Building up Canada’s industrial capacity to build things is exactly the kind of “return on investment” I had in mind. There are better ways to do that than buying loads of military hardware that will sit in warehouses while it goes slowly (or perhaps quickly) obsolete. You know, unless we’re aiming to gain any possible advantage no matter the cost in a war that’s going to start next year or something.