(Ottawa) Canada is investing $4.9 billion over six years to modernize and expand continental defense and “protect Canadians against new and emerging threats” emanating from Russia, in particular.
Posted at 11:30 a.m.
Updated at 12:16 p.m.
National Defense Minister Anita Anand visited Trenton Air Force Base in Ontario to announce the long-awaited injection of funds. She specified that it was new money, which is therefore added to the approximately 8 billion allocated to the post of defense in the last budget.
The Minister insisted on the need to ensure the territory’s sovereignty by contributing to this strategic partnership with the United States, “Canada’s closest ally”. She said she saw the strength of this alliance when she visited NORAD headquarters in Colorado in early June.
“This is the most important upgrade in nearly four decades for Canada”, she pleaded, specifying that this first tranche of investments is part of an overall plan of 40 billion over the next 20 years for the national defense line item.
“The integrated capabilities of our potential adversaries, combined with the effects of climate change, mean that Canada cannot rely on its geography alone to protect us,” added Anita Anand.
It is also “more important than ever to ensure that members of the Canadian Armed Forces have the tools they need to keep us safe,” she continued at the lectern on the tarmac of the military base.
North Warning System
One of the priorities of the plan is to upgrade the North Warning System (NAS), a network of 50 radar sites, 47 of which are in Canada, and whose capabilities are increasingly stretched by the arrival of modern technology weapons, including advanced cruise missiles and hypersonic weapons.
No timetable was provided by Minister Anand on Monday, nor was the total amount for this specific project. No information document had been given to journalists before this major announcement.
In the meantime, the three-decade-old facilities will remain in service and maintained to maintain their capacity, said Minister Anand, who was accompanied by Chief of the Defense Staff Wayne Eyre, and Lt. General Alain Pelletier, deputy commander of NORAD.
US and Canadian military officials and experts had warned of the state of the defenses of NORAD, the US-Canadian military organization that monitors the continent’s air and sea space, in light of Russian aggression in Ukraine.
With The Canadian Press