Canada investing $4.9 billion to modernize Norad

Defence Minister Anita Anand says Canada will invest 4.9 billion dollars over the next six years to modernize North America's aging defensive systems.

At a news conference at CFB Trenton, Ontario this morning, Anand said this is the most significant upgrade to Norad from a Canadian perspective in almost four decades.

The funding is the first of an estimated 40 billion dollars that will be spent over the next 20 years to upgrade the early warning system.

It will include plans to build new radar networks to detect threats coming over the Arctic, as well as command and control systems, and advanced air-to-air missiles.