A look at the Defence news 19 – 25 February
Defence marks 2 years of war in Ukraine
The war in Ukraine has entered its third year. On 24 February 2022, Russian troops invaded the neighbouring country. An end to this illegal invasion is still not in sight. Ukraine is continuing to defend itself, partly thanks to the support of international partners.
The Netherlands has contributed from the start, not only with equipment and training, but also with forensic investigation teams that are investigating possible war crimes. As a sign of the Netherlands' determination to continue its support of Ukraine, the flag of Ukraine flew over all Dutch ministries last Saturday.
The Netherlands to conclude a 10-year security agreement with Ukraine
Progress of Ukraine’s F-16 programme
The Air Force Capability Coalition (AFCC) Steering Group recently met to discuss the progress of Ukraine's F-16 programme, including the AFCC's work to train the Ukrainian Air Force to operate, service, and maintain F-16 fighter aircraft. AFCC members coordinate to meet the requirements to ensure Ukraine receives a fully functional F-16 capability, including Denmark's initial donation of aircraft in the summer of 2024, and other Allied donations later this year. The AFCC reaffirmed its unwavering support to help Ukraine protect its skies.
Dutch naval ships leave port for large NATO exercise
HNLMS Johan de Witt and HNLMS Karel Doorman have left for northern Norway, where the naval vessels will join Exercise Steadfast Defender, the largest NATO exercise since the Cold War. Over the coming months, 5,000 Dutch military personnel will take part in the exercise.
NATO-hackathon: International teams compete in IT challenge
Last week, over 100 professionals from over 30 countries participated in a NATO hackathon, which was held at the Amsterdam Naval Barracks. The young programmers, engineers, architects and IT specialists had to deal with 3 complex operational IT challenges. The winners were Valkyrie I, a Ukrainian team that combined a high level of innovation with a good sense of networking, particularly in the Pharmaceutical Thesaurus assignment.