“The Soviets didn’t come into Afghanistan on a Eurail Pass. They came in T-55 tanks. The fighters need RPG-7 anti-tank grenade launchers, Katyusha 107mm rockets, wire mines, plastic mines, bicycle bombs, sniper rifles, ammunition for all the above, and frequency-hopping radios and burst transmitters so these guys aren’t so easy to find.”.That’s one of my favourite lines from the 2007 Tom Hank’s film “Charlie Wilson’s War.” A film about the true story of how Congressman Charles Wilson – a Democrat from Texas – led the charge in Congress to expand funding of the CIA’s covert mission to arm Afghan Mujahideen fighters in their war against the invading Soviet Union. It has been top-of-mind since the Russians invaded Ukraine..The tide began to turn against the Russians in Afghanistan once the Mujahideen were adequately supplied, especially once they received modern guided weapons like the American Raytheon Stinger MANPADS (MAN-Portable Air-Defence System). The British and the American governments remembered this lesson and were ready to supply Ukraine..During the weeks leading up to the Russian invasion, the British flew over two thousand state-of-the-art Saab NLAWs (Next generation Light Anti-tank Weapons) to Ukraine. Designed to be easy to use and capable of destroying a modern Russian tank at up to 800 meters, guided anti-tank weapons like the NLAW are exactly what the Ukrainians need to hold back the Russian invaders. The American contribution included hundreds of modern Stinger anti-air missiles and Javelin fire-and-forget anti-tank missiles. Latvia and Lithuania also sent Stinger missiles..The Canadian Government of Justin Trudeau announced $7.8 million of “lethal military aid” to support Ukraine and the second shipment of Canadian weapons arrived on February 23rd. Poland sent a convoy of trucks with supplies and ammunition on February 25th..On February 26th, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky turned down an American evacuation offer by saying, “The fight is here; I need ammunition, not a ride.” NATO allies heard him loud and clear..The German government – which initially opposed sending weapons to Ukraine – has reversed course and announced they will be sending 500 Stingers and 1,000 Panzerfaust 3 anti-tank missiles. The Dutch Government also announced that they will send 50 Panzerfaust 3 launchers, 400 Panzerfaust missiles, and 200 Stingers..On February 27, the European Union announced that they will support arms shipments to Ukraine. The Swedish government will provide 135,000 rations, helmets, body armour, and 5,000 anti-tank weapons. These will likely be single-use Saab AT4 84mm anti-tank weapons (a single-use cousin to the reloadable 84mm Saab Carl Gustav)..While these will certainly help, more is needed. Videos from Belarus show Russian armoured reinforcements arriving by train to join the invasion. Ukraine will need more of everything in the coming days. What more can Canada provide?.Lots more. To put our contribution into perspective: $7.8 million would buy around 200 single-use NLAW systems or about 35 Javelin missiles – launchers not included. The Canadian government needs to step up our military aid to Ukraine, but with what?.Decades of bipartisan neglect have left the Canadian Armed Forces woefully under-armed. Matt Gurney, writing for the National Post and The Line, has chronicled multiple procurement failures. In short, our pistols are from the Second World War, we have a serious lack of anti-aircraft weapons, and our old Saab Carl Gustav M3 84-mm anti-tank weapons are only effective against light armoured vehicles and older tanks to a range of about 500 meters..That said, we can still send a great deal of valuable equipment because Ukraine needs more of everything! We should be sending camo, body armour, and winter boots. We should be sending assault rifles and sniper rifles. We should be sending explosives, mortars, and grenades. We should even send our aging inventory of M2 and M3 Carl Gustav anti-tank weapons. And like he said in the film, we should send “ammunition for all the above” and modern communication equipment so Ukrainian fighters are not so easy to find..This will quickly exhaust our supplies and should serve as a wake-up call about how inadequately we equip our military. We will need to order replacements, but luckily Canadian military procurement is far less dysfunctional when it comes to ordering more of what we already have. Might I suggest we start by emulating the Americans, Estonians, Norwegians, Lithuanians, etc., and upgrade to the latest M4 version of Saab’s venerable Carl Gustav anti-tank weapon..Alex McColl is the National Defence Columnist for the Western Standard
“The Soviets didn’t come into Afghanistan on a Eurail Pass. They came in T-55 tanks. The fighters need RPG-7 anti-tank grenade launchers, Katyusha 107mm rockets, wire mines, plastic mines, bicycle bombs, sniper rifles, ammunition for all the above, and frequency-hopping radios and burst transmitters so these guys aren’t so easy to find.”.That’s one of my favourite lines from the 2007 Tom Hank’s film “Charlie Wilson’s War.” A film about the true story of how Congressman Charles Wilson – a Democrat from Texas – led the charge in Congress to expand funding of the CIA’s covert mission to arm Afghan Mujahideen fighters in their war against the invading Soviet Union. It has been top-of-mind since the Russians invaded Ukraine..The tide began to turn against the Russians in Afghanistan once the Mujahideen were adequately supplied, especially once they received modern guided weapons like the American Raytheon Stinger MANPADS (MAN-Portable Air-Defence System). The British and the American governments remembered this lesson and were ready to supply Ukraine..During the weeks leading up to the Russian invasion, the British flew over two thousand state-of-the-art Saab NLAWs (Next generation Light Anti-tank Weapons) to Ukraine. Designed to be easy to use and capable of destroying a modern Russian tank at up to 800 meters, guided anti-tank weapons like the NLAW are exactly what the Ukrainians need to hold back the Russian invaders. The American contribution included hundreds of modern Stinger anti-air missiles and Javelin fire-and-forget anti-tank missiles. Latvia and Lithuania also sent Stinger missiles..The Canadian Government of Justin Trudeau announced $7.8 million of “lethal military aid” to support Ukraine and the second shipment of Canadian weapons arrived on February 23rd. Poland sent a convoy of trucks with supplies and ammunition on February 25th..On February 26th, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky turned down an American evacuation offer by saying, “The fight is here; I need ammunition, not a ride.” NATO allies heard him loud and clear..The German government – which initially opposed sending weapons to Ukraine – has reversed course and announced they will be sending 500 Stingers and 1,000 Panzerfaust 3 anti-tank missiles. The Dutch Government also announced that they will send 50 Panzerfaust 3 launchers, 400 Panzerfaust missiles, and 200 Stingers..On February 27, the European Union announced that they will support arms shipments to Ukraine. The Swedish government will provide 135,000 rations, helmets, body armour, and 5,000 anti-tank weapons. These will likely be single-use Saab AT4 84mm anti-tank weapons (a single-use cousin to the reloadable 84mm Saab Carl Gustav)..While these will certainly help, more is needed. Videos from Belarus show Russian armoured reinforcements arriving by train to join the invasion. Ukraine will need more of everything in the coming days. What more can Canada provide?.Lots more. To put our contribution into perspective: $7.8 million would buy around 200 single-use NLAW systems or about 35 Javelin missiles – launchers not included. The Canadian government needs to step up our military aid to Ukraine, but with what?.Decades of bipartisan neglect have left the Canadian Armed Forces woefully under-armed. Matt Gurney, writing for the National Post and The Line, has chronicled multiple procurement failures. In short, our pistols are from the Second World War, we have a serious lack of anti-aircraft weapons, and our old Saab Carl Gustav M3 84-mm anti-tank weapons are only effective against light armoured vehicles and older tanks to a range of about 500 meters..That said, we can still send a great deal of valuable equipment because Ukraine needs more of everything! We should be sending camo, body armour, and winter boots. We should be sending assault rifles and sniper rifles. We should be sending explosives, mortars, and grenades. We should even send our aging inventory of M2 and M3 Carl Gustav anti-tank weapons. And like he said in the film, we should send “ammunition for all the above” and modern communication equipment so Ukrainian fighters are not so easy to find..This will quickly exhaust our supplies and should serve as a wake-up call about how inadequately we equip our military. We will need to order replacements, but luckily Canadian military procurement is far less dysfunctional when it comes to ordering more of what we already have. Might I suggest we start by emulating the Americans, Estonians, Norwegians, Lithuanians, etc., and upgrade to the latest M4 version of Saab’s venerable Carl Gustav anti-tank weapon..Alex McColl is the National Defence Columnist for the Western Standard
