Ukraine has been defending itself against Russia for almost 4 years and has unwittingly gained rich military experience. This experience is also infinitely valuable for NATO - the Alliance was forced by Russian aggression to rethink a large part of its strategies.
The joint JATEC center between NATO and Ukraine has been operating for a year. During this time, the two countries have managed to develop a number of new solutions for the front. This is the first structure in which Ukrainian military personnel work within NATO on an equal footing with representatives of the Alliance's member states. The NATO-Ukraine Joint Analysis, Training and Education Center (JATEC) is NATO's first joint project with a non-member state, and at the same time, NATO's first civil-military initiative of such a scale.
One of the goals was quite ambitious: to systematically study Ukraine's experience in the war with Russia in order to strengthen Ukraine's defense and at the same time modernize NATO's views on modern warfare.
Ukraine is now in NATO's collective defense mechanisms
In the one year since JATEC was established, Ukraine has established itself not only as a recipient of assistance, but also as an equal participant. The most significant event was Ukraine's participation in NATO's collective defense exercises: Ukrainian officers were involved in planning and conducting the Alliance's maneuvers related to Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty.
The REPMUS/Dynamic Messenger maneuvers in 2025 worked out modern trends in warfare at sea, the Ukrainian Navy and Ukrainian naval drones participated, and the Ukrainian DELTA situational awareness system was used (the system allows soldiers to see the battlefield online with the location of enemy forces - ed.).
This is not just about the exchange of experience, but also about access to the process of developing training scenarios and NATO operational actions, experts say.
Lessons from the war
NATO is still cautious about the conclusions of this cooperation, but recognizes that Russia's war against Ukraine is has forced the alliance to rethink many approaches to modern warfare. The key message is very simple: the alliance must adapt much more quickly to current conditions and challenges, a senior NATO military official noted in Brussels.
The second key lesson concerns the very nature of modern warfare. “The battlefield has changed radically“, the officer emphasized. “Everything related to drones and electronic warfare has changed the battlefield to a huge extent. These innovations can be called revolutionary“. According to him, JATEC is also working in this direction. He also gave an example of simple but effective solutions that the Ukrainian military is implementing on the front: for example, protective metal cages around artillery installations that prevent drones from approaching the equipment and thus protect it. Such low-tech measures, as well as cheap acoustic sensors, are no less important than expensive weapons systems.
Ukraine also influences NATO military planning
Thanks to JATEC, Ukraine influences the formation of NATO doctrine, another high-ranking official of the Alliance emphasized. According to him, in one year the center has achieved concrete results - both in the field of technology and in the field of NATO military planning.
A full cycle of making innovative decisions has been completed - from the concept to their combat application. These are technologies for countering guided aerial bombs, FPV drones with an optical cable, as well as for providing medical care and evacuating the wounded in the defeat zone. “These are solutions directly from the front line, and not some abstract, detached from reality things“, says Ukrainian representative Getmanchuk in this regard.
In the field of countering air threats, JATEC defines several priority areas. “Using artificial intelligence (AI) to guide unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to air targets, as well as the concept of building a “wall against drones“.
According to the JATEC press service, the effectiveness of one of these solutions has already been confirmed in combat conditions: there is data on the successful downing of Russian drones of the Shahed“, “Gerbera“ and “Supercam“ types, claim the manufacturer Alta Ares. Thus, JATEC is moving towards real combat application of the technologies against specific types of Russian unmanned aerial vehicles.
Ukrainian defense industry is integrating into NATO processes
More solutions are also being sought, such as countering guided bombs and optically guided drones, a senior NATO official told a briefing. The Alliance is now planning to establish an artificial intelligence and technical training center in Ukraine in cooperation with NATO structures.