NATO should mobilize defense industry and invest in Ukrainian military-industrial complex – Yermak
Head of the President’s Office of Ukraine, Andriy Yermak, spoke about what the war will be like in 2026 and called on NATO countries to bring their own military-industrial complex into line with wartime requirements and increase investment in the Ukrainian one.
"We see what the war will be like in 2026. FPV drones with AI, flying at 80 kilometers and more, they will be able to distinguish targets, in the future - the appearance of people, individual characteristics. Laser installations that will burn drones out of the sky, and interceptors with AI systems. Microwave weapons capable of shooting down swarms without firing. AI strike control systems that reduce the detection - defeat cycle to seconds. Ground combat drones, fiber optics with increased range, frontline electronic warfare," Yermak wrote on Telegram on Thursday.
At the same time, he noted that the Russian-Ukrainian war is “the first war of a new era,” and the security instruments of the Cold War era are “technologically expensive and are losing their effectiveness.”
"What NATO should do ... Mobilize the defense industry, transfer it to the rhythm of wartime. Invest more in the Ukrainian military-industrial complex. Reorient defense planning: from tank armies to unmanned swarms, AI. Invest in the air defense of the future: lasers, microwaves, cloud detection systems, frontline networks," wrote the head of the President’s Office of Ukraine.
Also, according to Yermak, NATO countries should create an AI command "not only as analytical assistance, but as a combat superstructure," and also review logistics and standards: "production without intermediaries, weapons adapted to real combat, not to paper doctrines."
He noted that in the 1930s, British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain believed that war with Hitler could be avoided, but he took the threat seriously, so he began rearmament.
"Today, Europe and NATO are at the same point. But this time, the enemy is Moscow with swarms of drones, disinformation and nuclear threats. Ukraine is already passing this test," Yermak said.