Ukraine's Defense Ministry calls on NATO to enhance defense innovations cooperation

Deputy Minister of Defense for Digital Development Kateryna Chernohorenko reportedly took part in a meeting of the Committee on Innovation and Hybrid Threats at NATO Headquarters as part of the NATO-Ukraine Council.

She briefed the Committee on the priorities of the Ministry of Defense in the field of innovation and cyber defense. She also emphasized the technologies that Ukraine needed to change the "rules of the game" on the battlefield.

"We call on the engineering community and governments to strengthen cooperation in developing capabilities in defense innovation - for example, optical guidance systems or smart homing munitions for our UAVs. We call on industry, engineering communities, and governments to increase cooperation both in developing capabilities in these areas and in evaluating promising technologies. We need to transform together to ensure that the capabilities of our Defense Forces meet the requirements of the modern battlefield," emphasized Chernohorenko.

The Deputy Minister also mentioned the IT, drone, and electronic warfare coalitions and invited the Committee's member states to join these initiatives. According to her, the Ministry of Defense is ready to contribute to the development of the NATO-Ukraine Roadmap for Innovation Cooperation.

"The Ministry of Defense is interested in holding a joint NATO-Ukraine innovation event involving the ecosystems of Ukraine and the Alliance. Such an event will establish ties between Ukraine and our partners and will lead to joint capacity building, exchange of experience or access to new technologies for our Defense Forces," Chernogorenko said.