The other day, a closed meeting of NATO high-ranking officials took place in the German city of Dresden, at which Ukraine was represented by Lieutenant General Oleksandr Pavlyuk, commander of the ground forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
According to BILD sources, the three-day meeting, which ended on August 29, brought together 35 senior military leaders of NATO countries, mostly from Europe. The delegation was received by the inspector of the German ground forces, Lieutenant General Alphonse Mays. Military leaders from such countries as the Netherlands, Estonia, Spain, Great Britain, Sweden, Albania and Greece took part in the event. The commander of the US Army in Europe and Africa, General Darryl A. Williams, was among those invited.
Special attention was paid to the demonstration of the latest models of German military equipment at the meeting. However, representatives of the press were not officially informed about the meeting itself and its content, which emphasizes the closed nature of the event and the sensitivity of the issues discussed.
One of the most interesting displays was the German wheeled air defense system Skyranger, designed to combat drones. This system is equipped with a 30 mm automatic cannon capable of shooting down drones within a radius of up to 3 km, as well as four Stinger missiles that can engage targets at a distance of up to 9 km. The complex has already been ordered by several countries, including Austria, Hungary and Denmark. The estimated cost of one unit is 18 million euros.
The RCH-155 unmanned wheeled howitzer was also presented at the meeting. This powerful artillery complex has a range of up to 54 km and can fire even while moving at a speed of up to 30 km/h. The first batch of 54 howitzers will be delivered to Ukraine in 2025. The price of one such system is about 10 million euros.
After the demonstration of the equipment, Lt. Gen. Alphonse Mays emphasized the importance of countering new challenges, including the proliferation of drones on the battlefield. "When we were in Afghanistan, the Taliban had no air force. Now we see in Ukraine that, first of all, the use of drones made a huge leap. They are now ubiquitous on the battlefield. That is why we must all face this new threat from the air," Mays said.
