Canada's controversial proposal: donating potent but outdated CRV7 rockets to embattled Ukraine
Canadian lawmakers suggest taking retired weapons from Canadian armoury storehouses, rather than recycling them, and donating them to Ukraine, in a move echoing Poland's distribution of decommissioned RPG-76 Komar grenade launchers.
We are referring to over 83,000 CRV7 (Canadian Rocket Vehicle 7) rocket packets, a Canada-produced, refined version of the unguided Hydra 70 packets from the US.
The CRV7 rockets were crafted in the 1970s, with their reinforced warheads, some of the most potent of their type, were originally intended to air assault aircraft hangars associated with the Warsaw Pact.
Throughout the Cold War era, Canada manufactured tens of thousands of CRV7 rockets. These were gradually decommissioned around the beginning of the new millennium. As of 2021, based on Canadian records, there were still 83,303 packets tucked away in storehouses - all tagged for disposal.
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The issue lies in the fact that the disposal operation for these weapons kicked off in 2021, a process planned to last six years. As a result, a portion of the packets has already been taken apart, and warheads have been extracted and destroyed from others.
Therefore, the number of fully-functioning and complete CRV7 rocket packets might be significantly fewer than the 83,000 initially documented.
A Weapon for demolishing military fortifications
Nonetheless, the CRV7 rockets can still be of some use. One variant (SAPHEI/HEISAP) houses a warhead weighing over 6.8 kilograms, engineered to obliterate military fortifications capable of penetrating around four metres of earth, nearly one metre of reinforced concrete and a 25 mm layer of steel.
Test results have indicated that these warheads can be effective in tank destruction as well. Even though the CRV7 was originally designed for Western airplanes and helicopters, given the level of Ukrainian military adaptation effort, it is conceivable that it could be modified for use in Ukrainian aircraft or for ground-launching.
Renewed purpose for old 70-mm packets
It's important to point out that the dated, 70-mm Hydra 70 unguided packets have been given a low-cost overhaul, akin to the JDAM family of bombs, which has considerably improved their performance.
This concerns APKWS - Hydra packets furnished with an added control system that morphs them into an earth-launched precision-guided weapon set to target a beam reflected from a target. This weapon, in the form of portable Vampire units, has already been shipped over to Ukraine and is being deployed in skirmishes with Russian forces.
