Canadian Defense Minister William Sterling Blair said the U.S.-made National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems (NASAMS), for which Ottawa pledged CAD 406 million nearly two years ago, are now in Ukrainian hands, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation said on the website.

"I can't give you more information on that because of operational security, but we have been able to deliver at long last — and I think it's going to make a difference because it will enable them to protect communities," Blair told the House Defense Committee on Thursday morning.

He said the government had tried to speed up the delivery by bundling it with a larger purchase by the U.S. government.

The planned purchase was announced in January 2023 – but as the Department of National Defence told CBC News in September, the federal government didn't transfer funds to Washington to pay for the system and start the process until March 2023, the Department of National Defence told CBC News in September.

The United States couldn't begin to negotiate a contract with the manufacturers until it had both its own funds and Canada's money in hand, and also needed to seek congressional approval to buy the NASAMs. Congress gave the green light in May 2023, the report reads.