Ukraine's Defense Ministry calls the country an ideal weapons testing ground for the West.
(Baonghean.vn) - Ukraine's Defense Minister called the country an ideal testing ground for Western weapons.
Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksei Reznikov said in an interview with the Financial Times that the country is an ideal testing ground for Western weapons.
“You can't think of a better training ground for the world's military industry,” said Mr. Reznikov.
The transfer to Ukraine of NASAMS air defense missile systems, as well as German-made IRIS-T air defense systems, means that for the first time Ukraine can jointly test all NATO weapons systems of different levels.
Ukraine's Defense Minister Reznikov said it was important for weapons systems to work together so Kiev's Western allies could see whether their weapons worked, how well they worked, and whether they needed upgrading.
Providing Ukraine with modern weapons, Western countries are concerned that the Ukrainian counter-offensive is only taking back territory measured in meters rather than kilometers. They know that Ukraine cannot defeat Russia without their support. However, the slower-than-expected pace of the counter-offensive means that Western support will be difficult to maintain if the conflict drags on.
On the Russian side, by developing various types of electronic warfare systems, Russia is making it difficult for Western smart weapons supporting Ukraine to operate effectively.
Moscow has also repeatedly warned that any shipment of weapons to Ukraine would become a legitimate target of attack by the Russian Armed Forces, and that NATO countries are "playing with fire" by providing weapons to Kiev.
Russia has repeatedly stated that any shipment of weapons to Ukraine would become a legitimate target of the Russian Armed Forces and that NATO countries are "playing with fire" by supplying weapons to Kiev.
