As I stated in my remarks, the nature of the technological development is quite broad. It's not just one or two areas like in previous eras. It's not just, let's say, ICBMs, intercontinental ballistic missiles, or it's not just greater communications. Basically in almost every area of military capability we are seeing some advancement.
That is, in part, driven by something that is generally called the broader technologies, such as AI, which are affecting how all capabilities are starting to operate together with greater connectivity between different military capabilities. You see a much greater focus on network capabilities as well as some very specific and unique capabilities that are narrow in focus, such as hypersonics, which is a significant area of growth in the last decade or so among the United States, China and Russia as well. Russia has recently just deployed several new types of hypersonic weapons on large missiles or carried by airplanes.
In that sense, there are quite a few areas that the Canadian Armed Forces must be aware of. As I said in my remarks, if we look at the Azerbaijan and Armenia conflict just recently, we see that UCAVs were a significant part of that conflict and that really did change what occurred and the outcome. Those capabilities range from very low-cost items that cost several hundred dollars, to extremely expensive, unique capabilities that have very wide effects.
The Canadian Forces are trying to adapt to this capability. I would argue that in many cases the priorities that were laid out, let's say in 2017, may not be as relevant as they are today. One of the best examples, referring back to Nagorno-Karabakh, is the development of new types of air defence systems. I'll give an example in the United States. I believe there are now six or seven ongoing air defence system projects that the U.S. Army is undertaking and implementing into service.
Canada has one program in the defence capability guide. It is the GBAD program, and it is identified for delivery, I believe, in 2026 or 2027. That means, for the next six or seven years, the Canadian Armed Forces will not have a dedicated air defence system to defend against threats that, as we just witnessed, have decisive effects in a conflict and are easily and cheaply available to many different countries.
Does that answer your question? Does that give you a perspective of where this squares up?