This opportunity would have been lost had Canada listened to those who were manipulated by Russian propaganda.
In a recent video, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced that Ukraine has begun preparations for a drone deal with Canada:
“ZELENSKYY: Twenty countries are already working with Ukraine at various levels to conclude Drone Deals with us. We will soon also sign political agreements with some other countries. We have also begun preparations for such an agreement, the Drone Deal, with Canada.”
Recent reports indicate that drones account for up to 80% of all successful strikes on targets by Ukrainian forces, and Ukraine’s successful use of drones to defend its territory from the Russian invasion has led to a significant change in how warfare is conducted. This has made Ukraine more efficient than Russia when it comes to killing enemy troops:
“Ukraine’s use of drones in the air and on the ground means that, in the brutal and bloody arithmetic of war, Ukrainians now kill several Russians for every loss of their own. Russia, for the first time, is losing more troops than it is recruiting, while the quality of recruits fall—so Russia faces a manpower shortage.”
Canada must adapt to modern warfare
With military spending on the rise, the production and procurement decisions Canada makes now will have a disproportionate impact. This is an opportunity to get things right after years of underinvestment in our national defence. By maximizing how much we learn from Ukraine about conducting drone warfare and mass-producing drones, we can ensure our forces are well-equipped, and our defence industry produces what our forces need.
The cost of getting this wrong would be immense. If we find ourselves in a future conflict without a strong drone production capability and without personnel trained and equipped to operate and defend against drones, our casualties will be much higher, our contribution to our alliances will be much weaker, and our defence industry will be less successful.
Ukraine is willing to help Canada because Canada was willing to help Ukraine
Thankfully, the worst-case scenario can be avoided. Ukraine has the battlefield knowledge and technical expertise Canada needs, and Ukraine is willing to share that battlefield knowledge and technical expertise with Canada, because Canada supported Ukraine with military and financial aid. This proves that – contrary to what critics of aiding Ukraine claimed – this was not merely a ‘giveaway’, but was rather an exchange of value for value. This was already true even without drone cooperation, since aiding Ukraine helps stop Russia from becoming more powerful and lowers the risk of a broader war in Europe involving NATO (and thus Canada) directly, which is of value to Canada. The drone deal further enhances the value-for-value relationship. There was immense value in the aid Canada gave and continues to give to Ukraine, because it has helped Ukraine survive. There is immense value in Ukraine’s world-leading drone warfare and drone production capabilities – value that Canada will be able to access.
Had Canada listened to those who were manipulated by Russian propaganda narratives and had we refused to help Ukraine, we would have ended up harming our national interest. We would have robbed ourselves of the opportunity to learn from Ukraine, we would fall behind our allies technologically, and we would be more vulnerable. Thus, aiding Ukraine has proven to be the right thing to do from an ethical perspective (upholding the idea that borders cannot be redrawn by thugs like Putin using force against innocent people), and from a national-interest perspective.
Spencer Fernando
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