TORONTO—Canada and Ukraine now have a drone deal. As announced recently by Prime Minister Mark Carney and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Alberta, Canada and Ukraine will jointly produce unmanned weapons systems. Although many details of the plan have not yet been released, the basic idea seems to be that Canada will produce millions of drones a year domestically, using Ukrainian designs and incorporating Ukrainian developments, and will, in exchange, provide one-third of our output to Ukraine for its use in its ongoing war against Russia’s invasion.

This is a win-win for both countries. Ukraine will get more drones and safer places to build them, and Canada will have access to the latest designs from a country that is very much at the forefront of drone warfare, a rapidly evolving field in which Canada has little experience. Ukraine’s war with Russia has forced it to adopt design and procurement processes that Canadian officials would find simply impossible to match—we procure military hardware on a timescale that often stretches to decades; Ukraine is designing, producing, using and then replacing new weapon systems in weeks. We can ride along by simply making our weapons to their latest designs, when appropriate for Canadian needs. 

In short,........

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