Ukraine Prepares for Joint Aviation Exercise, Continues Military Reform
Ukraine will be hosting Clear Sky 2018 from October 8-19, its largest aviation exercises to date, along with eight other foreign militaries, according to Ukraine's Ministry of Defense. The exercise seeks to improve cooperation and professional skills, increase the compatibility and effectiveness of joint command and control with the Air Forces of other NATO countries, and work on areas such as aeromedical evacuation and cybersecurity.
The exercise will take place at Starokostiantyniv Air Base, about 150 miles southwest of the capital of Kiev, hosting 950 personnel from Belgium, the U.K., Denmark, Estonia, the Netherlands, Poland, Romania, and the United States, as reported by Sputnik News.
According to Stars and Stripes, the announcement of Clear Sky 2018 came right after the Ukrainian government made known its plan to establish a new military base on the Sea of Azov “to counter a more assertive Russia.” In preparation for future potential threats, Ukraine’s surface-to-air missile units have planned more than 150 tactical and HQ staff training exercises and 4,200 unit trainings this year.
Once a large military with the third largest strategic nuclear arsenal, years of neglect, corruption, and an ambiguous nuclear disarmament agreement turned the Ukrainian military into a “depleted force” struggling to defend itself against Russia, described the Wall Street Journal.
Russian-supported rebellions across the Donbas region prompted the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense to launch a comprehensive plan to rebuild its armed forces in August 2015, according to the Foreign Policy Research Institute.
Ukraine’s multidimensional military reform ranges from strategic defense to management. It made NATO membership a strategic goal. It also adopted changes that will help achieve compatibility with NATO member states in the context of armed conflicts. In three years, Ukraine’s fighting capabilities have grown significantly.
In order to further facilitate cooperation with NATO states, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko signed a bill in January 2018 which allows for the admission of armed forces of foreign nations into Ukrainian territory for joint military exercises, according to the Kyiv Post.
The bill states that Ukraine will be hosting numerous joint military drills, including Clear Sky 2018, the Ukrainian-U.S. exercise Sea Breeze 2018, and the multinational exercise Light Avalanche 2018. The bill allows armed forces of NATO member states to visit Ukraine and join exercises “within the framework of military cooperation.”
The process of rebuilding the Ukrainian military is expected to be completed by 2020.