NATO’s current model of warfare is far removed from what is happening on the battlefield today, according to the former commander in chief of Ukraine’s armed forces.
Valerii Zaluzhnyi, now Ukraine’s ambassador to the UK, delivered a warning to the country’s Western allies about the rapidly changing nature of modern warfare — amid what he described as the disintegration of the rules-based world order.
This isn’t just about updating defense industries or “some rearmament,” he told the London Defence Conference at King’s College London on Friday. “You need a new state policy.”
This means a root-and-branch refresh of tactics, organization, doctrines, training, and budgeting, Zaluzhnyi said, per a transcript of his comments published by Ukrainska Pravda.
“All this requires not only additional resources, but also, most importantly, additional time,” he added.
A fast-changing battlefield
Ukraine’s Western allies have increasingly seen the war in Ukraine as a laboratory for modern warfare, one that provides a host of lessons.
Military experts have told Business Insider that Russia’s performance in Ukraine shows that NATO’s air dominance could well be tested in a future conflict.
NATO and Western defense officials have also said that alongside large-scale, expensive systems central to their capabilities, the alliance needs masses of cheap, expendable weapons like drones.
But Zaluzhnyi said that lessons like these aren’t being adopted fast enough in the West.
Despite drones playing a transformative role in the defense of Ukraine, Zaluzhnyi said that he wasn’t just referring to “drones taking over the battlefield.”
He said that if NATO stopped using tanks in favor of more high-tech means of warfare, it would still take about five years to catch up with Ukraine’s abilities.
“But technology will move on during this time. And so will the enemies,” Zaluzhnyi added.
Like space exploration
Ukrainian Presidential Press Service/Handout via Reuters
Zaluzhnyi likened what is needed to “the days of nuclear energy mastery or space exploration,” and said that the next step is to “build a completely new security architecture for Europe.”
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He also said that Europe needs Ukraine as a shield, since it has the biggest army on the continent, and is the “only one with an army that knows how to wage modern, high-tech warfare.”
While some countries may have a technological advantage in certain areas, he said, “none of them will be able to secure their own independence in the full range of modern defence technologies.”
This is also playing out against the backdrop of “destructive trends in the global security system” that have weakened the power of NATO’s Article 5, Zaluzhnyi said.
His remarks, made in London, came as the UK gears up for a planned overhaul of its defense policy. The UK has pledged to raise its defense spending to 3% of GDP, if economic conditions allow.
NATO did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
