What to expect at a NATO summit in Vilnius. Ukraine’s Delta situational awareness system passes interoperability tests with NATO and can integrate with F-16s. France to supply Ukraine with SCALP long-range missiles.
What to expect at NATO summit in Vilnius
A two-day NATO summit began Tuesday in Vilnius. All eyes are on the gathering as Ukraine expects a clear signal to join the Alliance. President Zelenskyi arrived in Vilnius on Tuesday afternoon. He will meet with U.S. President Joe Biden at the summit on Wednesday.
The 31 leaders of NATO member countries are meeting in Lithuania. Delegations from Japan, South Korea, New Zealand, Australia, Ukraine and Sweden are also attending the meeting. Just ahead of the summit, Turkey agreed to lift its block on Sweden joining the alliance.
On Monday, Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said that NATO members agreed to allow Ukraine to skip the Membership Action Plan for Ukraine’s entry into NATO.
According to earlier media reports, a separate package of security guarantees for Ukraine, from the U.S., UK, Germany and France, is expected to be announced at the end of the summit. These are intended to commit the countries to providing military aid to Kyiv, including the supply of weapons, training, intelligence sharing, and help to reform the defense policy until Ukraine joins NATO.
Speaking at a news conference on the first day of the summit, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said that the allies “have agreed a package of three elements to bring Ukraine closer to NATO”.
First, NATO members decided to launch a multi-year assistance program to bring Ukraine’s armed forces to NATO standards so the country can operate fully with the alliance.
Second, the allies and Ukraine will launch a new, upgraded forum for their cooperation: a NATO-Ukraine Council, where all parties can convene crisis talks and make decisions.
Third, the allies agreed to remove the requirement for a Membership Action Plan, Stoltenberg told reporters.
Ukraine’s Delta situational awareness system passes interoperability tests with NATO, can integrate with F-16s
The Ukrainian combat control and information processing system Delta has successfully passed NATO tests, including interoperability tests with F-16 fighter jets.
Mykhailo Fedorov, Vice Prime Minister for Innovation, Development of Education, Science and Technology — Minister of Digital Transformation of Ukraine said on Telegram: “In June, the annual NATO CWIX training [Coalition Warrior Interoperability Exercise] on interoperability of national combat and information systems with NATO systems and protocols was held in Poland.
Delta has been successfully tested with 15 systems from 10 countries, including with three systems developed directly by NATO. All interoperability tests were successful, and Delta has once again shown its unique potential.”
The team also tested four data exchange protocols operated by most of modern weapons supplied to Ukraine by the Western allies. The main protocol is Link 16, which provides data from F-16 fighter jets to Delta, Fedorov said.
Delta is a situational awareness system designed to provide real-time situational awareness. The system provides a comprehensive picture of the current battle space, using data obtained through aerial reconnaissance, from satellites, security cameras, radars, chatbots etc. The system allows to plan military operations more effectively.
France to supply Ukraine with SCALP long-range missiles
France will supply Ukraine with long-range cruise missiles, French President Emmanuel Macron said at the NATO summit in Vilnius.
“In view of the situation and the Ukrainian counteroffensive, I have decided to increase deliveries of weapons and equipment to enable the Ukrainians to have the capacity to strike deeply,” Macron said.
Macron said the delivery would adhere to France’s policy of assisting Ukraine to defend its territory, implying that Paris had received assurances from Kyiv that the missiles would not be fired into Russia.
These will likely be French-British SCALP missiles, also known as Storm Shadow. The missiles have a 250-kilometer range.
Macron did not say how many missiles would be sent. A French diplomatic source said they were talking about 50 SCALP missiles. France has 400 such missiles in its stocks, a DSI report said.
According to Missilery, SCALP missiles were designed to have low radar visibility. The missile travels at speeds of more than 1,000 km/h. In May, the UK said it is supplying Ukraine with Storm Shadow missiles.
Podcast Explaining Ukraine. Victoria Amelina. In memoriam
This episode is about Victoria Amelina, a Ukrainian writer, and our friend, killed by a Russian missile.
Victoria Amelina, a Ukrainian writer and human rights activist, passed away on July 1st, 2023 after she was severely injured by a Russian missile strike on Kramatorsk, Eastern part of Ukraine, Donetsk region, on June 27th. In this episode we will try to tell you her story. And to explain why she has to be remembered, read and translated all over the world.
Hosts: Volodymyr Yermolenko, a Ukrainian philosopher and journalist, the chief editor of UkraineWorld, and Tetyana Ogarkova, head of the international outreach at Ukraine Crisis Media Centre. Invited: Tetyana Teren, executive director at PEN Ukraine, and Olena Huseinova, Ukrainian poet, journalist at Radio Kultura.
Support the New York Literary Festival founded by Victoria: send.monobank.ua/jar/47NC5oddkL
Recording from Victoria’s last performance: Youtube channel “Look, that is the artist”.
