Canada Transfers 40,000 Engines to Ukraine for CRV7 Air Missiles

Canada has handed over 40,000 engines for 70-mm unguided CRV7 (Canadian Rocket Vehicle 7) aircraft missiles to Ukraine.

The Canadian mission UNIFIER posted the video on its X account.

The footage shows the process of unloading containers with engines. The footage was probably shot in one of the European ports.

It is worth noting that for the safety of ammunition transportation, Canada supplies engines separately from combat units.

Отримано понад 40000 ракетних двигунів CVR-7 !Завдяки нашій логістичній підтримці, #ЗСУ буде краще оснащеними для захисту своєї країни. #Canada #Ukraine pic.twitter.com/uUcNlJYRWa

— CAF with Ukraine (@CAFwithUkraine) April 8, 2025

This approach may also be due to the limited number of usable warheads compared to engines, as previously confirmed by the Ministry of Defense of Canada.

Some of the engines can be converted to produce ammunition for drones or improvised multiple launch rocket systems.

The discussion on the transfer of the CRV7 to Ukraine began in February 2024, when the Conservative Party of Canada launched a corresponding initiative.

At the time, it was reported that the Canadian Armed Forces had more than 83,000 mothballed CRV7 missiles, which were decommissioned in the early 2000s. In 2021, Canada signed a contract to dispose of them, but the process was later halted.

In February 2024, it became known that Ukraine had officially requested these missiles.

CRV7 (Canadian Rocket Vehicle 7)

The CRV7 is an unguided 70-mm aircraft missile developed by Bristol Aerospace and introduced to the public in the early 1970s. The missile is adapted for use on both airplanes and helicopters.

The basic warhead of the first CRV7 missiles was the American M151 high-explosive fragmentation warhead with an instantaneous detonation containing 4.5 kg of explosive. The missiles could also be equipped with smoke (M156) or illumination (M257/278) warheads.

The Canadian company Bristol Aerospace has developed a number of specialized warheads:

• WTU-5001/B – training warhead with a soft steel rod (3.6 kg).
• The WTU-5001A/B is an improved version with a hardened steel rod.

Subsequently, the WDU-50001/B “anti-bunker” warhead weighing 7.2 kg was developed – a semi-armor-piercing high-explosive incendiary warhead.

During the tests, it turned out that even inert CRV7 missiles penetrated the armor of old Centurion tanks. This discovery became the basis for the creation of an anti-tank version with a tungsten core that could penetrate T-72 armor from any direction.

The next stage was the development of the WDU-5002/B FAT, an armor-piercing warhead with arrow-shaped tungsten elements. Five of these “arrows” pierced the T-72 armor from a distance of 3 km in the side and top projections.

Later, a universal version of the WDU-500X/B appeared, equipped with 80 tungsten arrow-shaped elements capable of penetrating up to 38 mm of hardened armor – effective against infantry, armored vehicles, vehicles, and helicopters.

The CRV7 can also be equipped with a cluster warhead with 9 M73 submunitions.

The missiles can be launched from the RWCS Nanuk and CRV7-PG ground launchers or SUU-5003 air launchers.