Ukraine's defense ministry implements NATO standards for air and space operations in armed forces
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The Ministry of Defense and Ukraine's armed forces are implementing another NATO standard for preparing and conducting military operations, whereby the concept of "air and space operations" will be incorporated into the Ukrainian army.
The press service of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine reported this.
"Ukraine has chosen its path: to become a member of the Alliance. That is why "NATOfication" is one of the main priorities of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine," Rustem Umerov, defense minister, emphasized.
The head of the Ministry of Defense also emphasized the importance of the Ukrainian army meeting all NATO criteria. This requires making necessary changes to ensure complete interoperability with our partners.
So, in October – November, four more NATO standards were introduced. It is about:
- "Air and space operations" (refers to a joint doctrine that outlines standard procedures for applying capabilities in aerospace during joint operations).
- "Education and training for conducting operations in an urbanized environment" (refers to the implementation of standardized training during preparation for conducting combat operations in large populated areas).
- "Tactics, methods, and procedures of NATO airborne operations" (refers to providing commanders and their staffs with leadership in the planning, coordinating, and executing airborne operations).
- "Conducting ground tactical operations" (refers to management's provision of planning and implementation of measures and tasks to stabilize the situation that may arise within the framework of any operation and the scope of any campaign).
To date, the Ministry of Defense and the army have introduced 280 NATO standards:
- 174 priority standards within the framework of Ukraine-NATO partnership goals,
- 106 "initiatives" that are implemented outside of the Partnership Goals.
There are 1,135 standards in the North Atlantic Alliance; Ukraine has implemented about a quarter of them as of the end of November 2023.
For reference:
On September 30, 2022, President Volodymyr Zelensky, Chairman of Ukraine's parliament Ruslan Stefanchuk, and Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal signed Ukraine's application for accelerated accession to NATO.
Already this year, a summit of NATO countries took place in Vilnius on July 11 and 12, one of the main topics of which was Ukraine.
In the final communique of the summit, published on the Alliance's website, the heads of state and government of the North Atlantic Alliance recognized Ukraine's progress on the path of Euro-Atlantic integration. They confirmed that Ukraine's future lies with NATO.
Moreover, despite Russia's extensive aggression and the ongoing challenges of war, the Ministry of Defense is still dedicated to enhancing the professional education of Ukraine's armed forces. The North Atlantic Alliance's DEEP program has already benefited 12,000 members of the Ukrainian army in this effort.
In general, three things are essential for Ukraine to join NATO:
- civil democratic control,
- transparency of procedures,
- joint planning of military operations.
By the end of the year, Kyiv plans to implement 30-35% of the Alliance's standards.
