A ReKam 3.2 UAV sits on the back of a truck ahead of a test flight at the Grimsby Airport in Ontario, on May 24.Nick Iwanyshyn/The Globe and Mail
Canadian-produced drones will soon be helping Ukraine strike at Russian logistics lines, including a key route that supplies the occupied Crimean Peninsula, a senior Ukrainian defence official said.
A deal signed last month between drone manufacturers Sentinel R&D Inc. of Hamilton, Ont., and Ukraine’s Airlogix marks the first time Canada’s defence industry has committed to producing equipment specifically for use on the front lines in Ukraine. The agreement has already been harshly criticized by Russia’s Foreign Ministry, which accused Canada of behaving like a “warmonger.”
There’s no timetable yet for when drones produced in Canada will arrive in the war zone. But Oleksii Antoniuk, the head of international co-operation for Ukraine’s Ministry of Defence told The Globe and Mail that when the unmanned aerial systems do arrive, they will be used primarily for reconnaissance and intelligence − hovering over the battlefield to identify targets for Ukraine’s explosive drones.
“This drone and the supplies, when they start arriving from Canada, will be a critical part of our mid-strike program,” Mr. Antoniuk said in an interview, referring to medium-range attack drones that Ukraine has been using to strike supply corridors behind the Russian front lines. “We aim to fully isolate all Russian roads within 100 to 120 kilometres of the front line, so that no Russian vehicle can pass through. Then their forces on the front lines will be depleted of any resources and they will not be able to advance any more.”
After more than two years of slow but steady Russian gains along a 1,000-kilometre front line, Ukraine has recently seized the momentum on the battlefield, liberating more territory than it has lost over the first five months of 2026. Much of that success is due to drones, which have allowed Ukraine to neutralize large Russian advantages in manpower, as well as artillery and other equipment.
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Team members from Sentinel R&D Inc. and representatives from Ukrainian defence technology company Airlogix inspect the ReKam 3.2 UAV after a test flight.Nick Iwanyshyn/The Globe and Mail
Robert Brovdi, the commander of Ukraine’s drone forces, told Reuters this week that traffic along the R-280 highway, which connects Crimea to Russia through other occupied areas of Ukraine, was down 71 per cent because of Ukrainian drone strikes.
The specific model of drone that will be produced under the Canadian-Ukrainian partnership will be based on the GOR reconnaissance drone that Airlogix already produces, though Sentinel is expected to bring its own expertise to the final product. Sentinel manufactures a fixed-wing drone, the ReKam 3.2, which can be used for anything from intelligence-gathering to electronic warfare and counterdrone missions.
“We’re leveraging the Canadian supply chain for this production. It isn’t just a copy-paste with the same components, but a much more interesting endeavour,” Mr. Antoniuk said.
The joint venture, which is expected to last into the 2030s, is supported by both the Canadian and Ukrainian governments. Sentinel has said production of the unmanned systems will be concentrated at a new facility in either Ontario or Alberta, depending on provincial government support.
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The prospect of drones being produced in Canada to supply the Ukrainian military drew a sharp rebuke from Moscow this week, which accused Canada of profiting from the war while Ukraine is able to hide a military production facility in a third country.
“Canada has climbed to a qualitatively new level of involvement in the Ukraine crisis. All masks are down. Canada is not a peace-loving state but a warmonger,” Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in a news conference.
She said Russia would publish the address of the factory where the drones are produced. “We will take these new circumstances into consideration in the course of our military and political planning.”
Mr. Antoniuk said Russia would not dare strike at a factory in a NATO member such as Canada. He called Ms. Zakharova’s statements propaganda aimed at portraying Canada as “somehow getting more vulnerable, even though it’s getting stronger.”