NATO general on priorities for military aid to Ukraine: Ammunition, air defense systems

He said this in an interview with Ukrinform.

“The urgent requirements, of course, come from the Ukrainian forces. And when you look at the operational efforts and the operational plans of the Ukrainian forces, one of those is to protect the rear area of Ukraine. And here, air defense plays a crucial role to intercept ballistic missiles with the Patriot systems and other, against cruise missiles, as I said, IRIS-T, NASAMS, and other systems,” Keller said.

He stressed that air defense “is and remains on the top of the agenda, speaking about systems, but also speaking about interceptors.”

Among other operational efforts of the Ukrainian forces is holding the front line, where there is a high demand for artillery ammunition, Keller said.

“There’s a high demand where we’re going after every day. Mines, anti-tank mines, for instance, play an important role to hold the front line, to fortify the front line. Of course, there’s also engineer equipment in this regard. Then, we have a high need of electronic warfare due to the capability of Russia,” Keller said.

He added that in the drone spectrum, “there’s a lot of support needed, not so much in terms of donations, but more in funding the Ukrainian defense industry, which is probably more capable than the Western industries.”

“That goes also then for another goal, among others, which is deep strike capabilities, such as drones and others,” Keller said.

Commenting on the maintenance and operational readiness of equipment, Keller explained that NSATU organizes working groups every two to three months to assess needs across all weapons systems.

“When we look at air defense, we bring all the stakeholders with regard to air defense together close to the Ukrainian border. That means, of course, the allies that support this capability. We do have Western industry, we do have Ukrainian industry coming together there, and of course, the Ukrainian forces. And then these experts discuss what needs to be done to a very high level of detail in terms of spare parts, in terms of equipment, in terms of technical rights, that are necessary. And this we do for every capability in two to three-month cycles to always meet the urgent requirements and to keep as much of the weapon systems in the fight as possible,” Keller said.

Beyond air defense, NSATU also coordinates maintenance across a wide range of systems, including armored vehicles, artillery, electronic warfare equipment, and engineering tools, Keller added.

Photo: NSATU press service