Ukrainian Junta To Buy Foreign Drones, Helicopters For Nearly Six-Month War

Interfax-Ukraine
September 24, 2014
Defense Ministry to buy Polish drones and Ukrainian helicopters for ATO forces – Turchynov
The Ukrainian Defense Ministry will purchase Polish drones and Ukrainian helicopters for the anti-terrorist operation (ATO) forces, Verkhovna Rada Chairman Oleksandr Turchynov has said.
“When visiting the exhibition [11th Arms and Security exhibition] we have already agreed on the immediate purchase of several of these helicopters for the National Guard. The Defense Ministry is also buying these helicopters along with armaments,” he told reporters when attending the exhibition in Kyiv on Wednesday.
In addition, according to Turchynov, the Ukrainian army and the police showed an interest in unmanned aerial vehicles.
“It’s very important to us, and our Polish colleagues want to supply these products to Ukraine,” he said.
He said that Polish drones have very serious specifications, in particular, they can lift up to 15 kilograms of cargo, including arms.
Turchynov noted that one of the problems in the area of the anti-terrorist operation for the Ukrainian military was to find targets, locate and neutralize them.
“There are several systems here that will leave for the ATO zone straight from the exhibition and will help fully realize the drones that are used by the Russian Armed Forces for precision-guided fire on our positions,” he said, adding that these products will be tested in the ATO zone.
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Interfax-Ukraine
September 24, 2014
Arms and equipment for National Guard and Armed Forces to be purchased this year – interior minister
Ukrainian Interior Minister Arsen Avakov has said that arms and equipment for the National Guard and the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the area of the anti-terrorist operation (ATO) will be purchased this year.
“Purchases will be made this year. They continue. The prime minister held a respective meeting… By the end of the year, as part of defense contracts, we will purchase a sufficient amount of BTR-4Es, BTR-3Es and Grads and domestically produced equipment for the National Guard and the Armed Forces alone,” he told journalists in Kyiv on Wednesday when attending an international specialized exhibition “Arms and Security 2014.”
“I think that following today’s exhibition and following conversations with our suppliers (we are working as part of the defense order, direct contracts and through government funding from the reserve fund)… we will modify the current contracts according to the latest achievements that they managed to demonstrate today,” Avakov said.
He also said that the work of defense enterprises in Ukraine today “is a big backlog for 2015, taking into account the challenges given to us by the war.”

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