Anthony Tether, former head of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (2001-2009) has become a consultant to Ukraine's state-owned defense conglomerate Ukroboronprom.

A memorandum on cooperation between Ukroboronprom and the director of the American company Tony Tether & Associates was signed in the presence of journalists on Friday in Kyiv.

Tether, the first foreign consultant of Ukroboronprom, will give advice on issues relating to the development of Ukraine's military industrial complex and sale of Ukrainian weaponry on international markets.

Tether noted the importance of creating synergy between the U.S. and Ukraine in the defense sector, as well as economic stabilization and the further development of comprehensive bilateral Ukrainian-American cooperation.

"I think that this will allow us to add 2 plus 2 and get the answer 5," Tether said.

The new foreign consultant of Ukroboronprom also said that he plans over the next six months to study the development process of new weapons in Ukraine and the functioning of Ukraine's military industrial complex.

"I must understand you culture," he said.

Ukroboronprom in 2015 announced plans to bring its production up to NATO standards by 2018. In an agreement with the alliance, Ukraine also will joint the NATO system of weapons procurement. In June Ukroboronprom's enterprises launched the trial introduction of NATO technical standards in the development, production, modernization and repair of weapons and military hardware according to the AQAP-2000 standard.