When will nuclear weapons become a military relic? Why does the Ukrainian defense industry need a Unified Technology Development Center? Is Israel's model of security guarantees truly acceptable for Ukraine? The first vice-president of the NAS of Ukraine, academician Volodymyr Horbulin, answered these and other questions in an interview with the online publication "Ukrinform".
The modern development of military technologies conceptually changes a number of things, and one of them is nuclear weapons. The scientist stated: "There are conditions under which, thanks to the latest technologies, nuclear weapons will still become a military relic, and the nuclear era will go into history. These conditions are related to the development of modern long-range interception technologies for nuclear warhead carriers – preemptively."
In the interview, Volodymyr Horbulin noted that currently, the structure of Ukraine's defense industry can remain as it is, that is, five regulators involved in the development of modern weapons – the Ministry of Defense, Ministry of Strategic Industries, Ministry of Digital Transformation, Security Service of Ukraine, and the Defense Intelligence of the Ministry of Defense. However, it is necessary to create a unified technology development center – this was provided for by President Zelensky's decree 59/20.
Regarding the acceptability of Israel's model of security guarantees for Ukraine, the scientist emphasized: "As for Israel's experience, yes, it is a good benchmark for Ukraine. Thanks to the fact that, in addition to financial aid, Israel has reached an agreement with the USA to conduct joint developments, it has gradually become one of the undisputed world leaders in the creation and production of modern weapons."