The Ukrainian Center for Army Conversion and Disarmament Studies released a rating of top 10 Ukrainians in several categories related to defense and security issues.
The Ukrainian Center for Army Conversion and Disarmament Studies, a non-government, non-profit research organization, released a rating of top 10 Ukrainians in several categories related to defense and security issues. The categories are: Contribution made to the country’s security; research and development in the defense industry; and cooperation with other states. The people identified include academics, past and present politicians and weapons designers. The original report: “The best in the security sector. CACDS rating” was published by the Defense-Express website www.defense-ua.com on June 25.
The ratings highlight Ukrainians who have made the greatest personal impact on the development of the national security and defense sector in modern Ukrainian history (1991-2009). While preparing the ratings, analysts took into account the opinions of the members of the corporate security sector through an anonymous poll.
Ten Ukrainians with greatest impact on national security and defense
Volodymyr Horbulin
As former chief of ex-President Leonid Kuchma’s National Security and Defense Council, Horbulin is credited with establishing a powerful national analytical center under the council’s umbrella. He drafted and adopted state decisions in the national security and defense sphere between 1994-1999 that pushed the sector’s development forward. He established the national intelligence community in 1995. He also prepared and created a system for development of Ukraine’s military-technical cooperation with foreign countries in 1997, as well as formed and supervised the State Commission for Defense Sector Issues (2000-2002).
Stanislav Konyukhov
As chief designer and director of Pivdenne (Yuzhnoye), a state space design and construction giant, he gets credit for preservation of the scientific school of missile design and dual-purpose spacecraft design during the entire period of Ukraine’s modern history.
Anatoliy Hrytsenko
He made a significant impact on the reform of Ukraine’s armed forces as head of the Razumkov Center, a non-government organization (2000-2004), as well as contribution to the reform of Ukraine’s armed forces as Ukrainian defense minister (2005-2007), including clear identification of rearmament priorities and publication of the White Book of Ukraine’s Armed Forces that included government reports and policy issues.
Borys Tarasyuk
He gets credit for valuable and consistent personal contribution to the promotion of the idea of Ukraine’s Euro-Atlantic integration, including lobbying for full membership in NATO and receiving the means to use the alliance’s defense potential for securing Ukraine’s defense capability.
Oleksandr Kuzmuk
Contributed to active development of the Ukrainian army as defense minister in 1996-2001 and 2004-2005, playing a huge role in building up the country’s armed forces from scratch using remnants and traditions left over from the Soviet Union.
Anatoliy Lopata
He made a valuable contribution in the development of the national defense system as the head of the General Staff of Ukraine’s Armed Forces (1993-1996). As a military expert, he also made an impact on forming a positive moral, psychological and combative spirit in Ukraine’s armed forces.
Borys Paton
As the president of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine throughout the entire period of independence, he was in charge of maintaining fundamental science and research and kept Ukraine’s scientific schools surviving and developing.
Fedir Muravchenko
As chief designer of Zaporizhya-based Progress construction bureau, he can be credited for preserving the engine airplane engineering school and development of a number of aircraft engines for planes and helicopters over the entire period of the country’s independence.
Valeriy Shmarov
He made a valuable contribution to the development of military-technical relations with Russia, development of joint projects and technologies with the Russian military complex as Ukraine’s deputy prime minister in charge of defense and as Ukrainian defense minister (1993-1996), head of the Aviaprom association of state aircraft building industry enterprises (1997-2002) and head of the Ukrspetsexport, the state arms export enterprise (2002-2004).
Volodymyr Hrek
As a department head at the Ukrainian Defense Ministry in 2007-2009, he promoted a project to build a national corvette jointly with western defense companies. If it succeeded the project would have been capable of changing the country’s attitude to military-technical cooperation with European players, fixing Ukraine’s capacity to collaborate with western defense companies.
Ten Ukrainians who helped build cooperation withforeign countries
Valeriy Malev
As the director-general of the Ukrspetsexport state company, he began using the state company’s assets to develop and modernize armaments and military hardware (2000). He also signed the first large contract with a NATO country to supply a Zubr (Bison) hovercraft to Greece in 2000. He finalized a tank contract with Pakistan in 1999.
Vyacheslav Bohuslayev
As both head of the board and president of the Motor Sich turbine factory, he has created Ukraine’s most successful defense enterprise and ensured the production of sophisticated military and dual-purpose hardware and its promotion on foreign markets.
Oleksandr Kovalenko
As the deputy and first deputy director general of Ukrspetsexport, he secured many crucial arms export contr acts and helped rebuke smear campaigns against Ukraine’s arms trading role waged by competitors (1997-2009). Among other things, he has made a valuable personal contribution to the successful fulfillment of a tank contract with Pakistan (1999), negotiations with Greece on a naval contract, active counter-measures to pressure exerted on Ukraine during the “Kolchuga scandal” [allegations of unlawful Kolchuga radar system sales in early 2000s that implicated president Leonid Kuchma] and others.
Stanislav Smal
As the vice president, president and head of the board of the Artem state holding company, he prepared and implemented a number of contracts on “air-to-air” missiles supplies for Russian export fighter planes (2001-2009).
Serhiy Bondarchuk
As director-general of the Ukrspetsexport, he has made a substantial personal contribution to the conclusion of a contract with India on the modernization of its fleet of An-32 planes (2009) by one of its subsidiaries, the Spetstekhnoexport enterprise. He ensured continued financing of some modern military projects, in particular, the BTR-3E1 light armored personnel carrier, by Ukrspetseksport state enterprise (2005-2009).
Yuriy Bondin
Prepared and fulfilled a number of major contracts supplying gas turbines for naval ships to foreign customers.
Volodymyr Radchenko
Made a valuable personal contribution to the formation and reform of Ukraine’s national system of military-technical cooperation with foreign countries.
Oleksandr Sharapov
As the director of the Ukroboronservis state enterprise (a subsidiary of the Ukrspetsexport state company since 1997), he has developed added a number of new elements to the company’s operation profile, having transformed the arms export intermediary company into an enterprise with its own large-scale production. Among other things, a repair system for the S-300 anti-aircraft missile system and the Buk anti-aircraft system has been established.
Oleksandr Hryshutkin
As the deputy head and first deputy head of Ukraine’s State Export Control Service, he has made a valuable personal contribution to the establishment of a national export control system and prevention of arms trading violations.
Oleksandr Bukuyev
As director of the Progress state company in 1993-1996 (a subsidiary of the Ukrspetsexport state company since 1997), he ensured fulfillment of the contract supplying 320 tanks T-80UD to Pakistan, which improved Ukraine’s reputation as a reliable supplier of armaments and military hardware and formed a new national system of military-technical cooperation between Ukraine and other countries (1993-1996).
Ten most important developments in arms and military hardware
1 Development of a number of national high-precision destruction weapons like Combat, Stuhna and other types. This has served as proof of Ukrainian designers’ capacity to develop new ultramodern weapons. (Oleh Korostelyov, designer-general of the Luch state design bureau in Kyiv).
2Development and promotion of the An-148 plane, which is considered to have enough potential to lead the national aviation industry out of crisis. (Dmytro Kiva, designer-general of the Antonov state aircraft construction concern based in Kyiv).
3Development of a modern version of the Kolchuga-M radio-electronic reconnaissance station, which proved Ukrainian’s ability to independently develop technologies inherited from the U.S.S.R.. (Ivan Polyakov, designer-general of Donetsk-based Topaz state company and specialized design bureau; Viktor Ryabkin, director of Topaz; Valeriy Malev, director-general of the Ukrspetsexport state military export company).
4Preservation and development of the national armored machinery building school, design of the new Oplot tank and a number of new parts for light armored machinery, in particular, for BTR-3E1 and BTR-4 armored personnel carriers, which can eventually lead to the appearance of a brand new light armored vehicle.
5Development of drafts of a new military “corvette” class ship with integrated parts and units produced in the west (Yevhen Borysov, designer-general of the Research and Design Shipbuilding Centre in Mykolayiv).
6Development of the new Pelican (79K6) three-dimensional radar station, which has proved the ability of national radar designers to produce competitive machinery on the par with Western peers (Ihor Presnyak, director-general of the Iskra national design and production enterprise in Zaporizhya).
7 Design and production of a system for protecting helicopters from high-precision means of destruction with an infrared radiation head.
8.Development of the new Nizh (Knife) and Zaslon (Screen) systems for protecting armored vehicles from destruction (Vasyl Khytryk, director of the Microtec Basic Center for Citical Technologies in Kyiv).
9Development of a number of millimeter-range radars of Barsuk (Badger) and Manhust (Mongoose) types.
10Development of “Contrast” system for masking objects.
