A soldier in action during a military exercise in the Donbass region, Ukraine. (Demotix)

The NATO Communications and Information Agency (NCI Agency) and Ukraine signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) to deepen their partnership and collaborate on additional technology-related projects, the agency announced on 17 January.

The agreement involves supporting Ukraine in modernising information technology and communication services, while identifying areas to assist in the training of personnel.

Ambassador Nataliia Galibarenko, head of Mission of Ukraine to NATO, said, “With NATO's support, we plan to further introduce modern information technologies and services into the command-and-control system of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.”

This well-established partnership dates back to 2015 when the NCI Agency Supervisory Board agreed to aid Ukraine on technology-related matters. Support is conducted through the Command, Control, Communications, and Computers (C4) Trust Fund.

The Lanza 3D Deployable Air Defence Radar passed NATO tactical ballistic missile detection and tracking tests. (Indra)

The Indra-developed Lanza 3D Deployable Air Defence Radar (DADR) has passed NATO tactical ballistic missile detection and tracking trials.

The company announced on 3 January that the radar cleared stringent NATO tests at the Radio-Electric Assessment and Analysis Centre of the National Institute of Aerospace Technology in Guadalajara, Mexico.

According to Indra, the platform was able to estimate the “different trajectory parameters needed to trigger offensive, defensive, and intelligence actions, such as the estimated launch point, point of impact, point of interception etc”. This would in turn, they claim, inform command-and-control centres with the information necessary to neutralise ballistic attacks or alleviate damage.

The NATO Support and Procurement Agency adopted a specific certification and assessment instrument to evaluate the radar's capabilities. This involved using a ground control station, and a transmitting tool on a drone to imitate the return radar signal reflected by a ballistic missile.

The trials saw the radar stressed against a range of flight profiles and different motor and ballistic trajectories, the announcement noted, along with a variety of launch and impact points, and trajectories of different lengths and/or altitudes.

The US Army recently awarded Northrop Grumman with a contract valued at USD1.4 billion over five years to produce its future battle command system.

The service announced the basic terms of the low-rate initial production and full-rate production deal on 23 December, and said two companies submitted bids for the Integrated Battle Command System (IBCS) programme. Under the terms of the new deal, Northrop Grumman will deliver “up to” 160 systems to the army by late December 2026.

“IBCS is a keystone Army Futures Command programme that will provide a decisive battlefield advantage through weapon and sensor integration, and a common mission-command system across all domains, delivering an integrated fires to the warfighter while improving battle space awareness, decision timing, and protection against threats in complex integrated attack scenarios,” the army wrote in a statement.

More specifically, the network connects army radars, combines their targeting data, and passes on that data to whichever launcher that is best suited to take a shot against a target.