Ukraine and Norway have agreed on priority areas for defence cooperation including air defence, unmanned systems, and defence innovation ahead of the next Ramstein-format meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group on 15 April.
Ukrainian Minister of Defence Mykhailo Fedorov and his Norwegian counterpart Tore O. Sandvik identified key areas for near-term collaboration during a call, according to the Ukrainian MoD.
Priorities discussed included strengthening air defence and advancing the Prioritized Ukraine Requirements List initiative, support for the so-called Czech initiative on ammunition procurement, and backing for innovative projects to enhance the capabilities of Ukraine’s Defence Forces.
The two sides also discussed a project to equip Ukrainian brigades with drones, which Kyiv describes as a key area for improving battlefield effectiveness.
The Ukrainian side briefed Norway on the implementation of its War Plan, claiming progress in airspace protection, the scaling up of lower-tier air defence through the use of interceptor drones, and improved target engagement effectiveness. The Ukrainian MoD said March was the most successful month under its “Army of Drones. Bonus” programme in terms of enemy targets destroyed. Ukraine also highlighted the importance of partner-supplied air defence systems in helping the country through the winter period, saying they helped protect critical infrastructure and stabilise the energy sector.
Fedorov invited Sandvik to visit Ukraine to observe lower-tier air defence and unmanned systems in operation, saying Ukraine is ready to share its operational experience with Norway as part of what it described as a mutually beneficial partnership.
OT. Good to see the headline on BBC news online of Lord Robertson lambasting this shower of a government over Defence.
Article rightly calls out the role of Labour backbencher MPs blocking reductions in the welfare state when HMG tried to take a tiny amount off that ballooning bill.
Robertson also accuses non military skilled people in HM Treasury of VANDALISM.
Hear hear!
Usual “government spokesperson” response, biggest sustained investment in Defence since wnd of Cold war….blah blah, rinse and repeat the spin.
Yes, an increase, but you don’t detail where those increases are going, do you?
Let me help you.
Afghan rehoming.
Chagos payments. ( thankfully on ice )
The SIA.
Ukraine aid money.
DNE.
SSN decommissioning.
Housing.
Wages ( that one was out of MoDs existing budget despite the grandstanding )
AUKUS.
GCAP.
Last big two the usual gravy train straight to industry that leave an undetermined number of assets in the RN and RAFs hands decades from now? 50 jets? 80?
12SSN? I remain highly sceptical we’ll ever see more than 8 for the RN. When many here are pushing up dasies?
Always far in the future.
Not ONE of these items puts extra planes, ships, helicopters, Artillery, Armoured vehicles, GBAD, in the militaries hands.
And there is no plan announced to even increase the 3 services by a paltry few thousand people each, despite the improvements in R&R.
I’m pleased to see HMG called out for what it is, and I long to see it continue, and I long for the day when there is PROPER REFORM in Defence where Parliament as a whole agrees and ringfences Defence plans long term, rather than they remain at the mercy and whim of the incumbent government.
As for the Tories, they can go to bloody hell as well.
Well said, DM. We have all been writing about the ‘words without action’ for months now. It’s obvious to me that the battle between No. 10 & 11 is heating up and helped by such outbursts as witnessed today. Starmer talks the talk, and the Treasury could be more of a battle for him than we think. However, world events are quickly piling on the need for all countries to take a serious look at their readiness to defend, and it’s not a pretty picture.
I appreciate that it is off topic, but nevertheless we have finally got someone at the heart of Labour saying what he really thinks. The SDR written by Robertson and others was published last summer, since when, nothing. Among other things he says “ We are underprepared, we are under insured, we are under attack. We are not safe”. The parallels with the 1930’s don’t stack up, we had larger armed forces even with the infamous ten year rule, and a much bigger industrial base to scale up at speed.
Todays FT moment is that we have a government and Prime Minister who are writing cheques they don’t even try to cash.
For moment read statement, bad proof reading.