The reforms, proposed by Defense Minister Yevhen Marchuk, will see up to 40 percent of military personnel replaced with civilian specialists by the end of the year and up to 80 percent by 2005.

More than 70 posts of general will be cut and a series of administrative reforms within the army command will be launched, the president's office said in a statement.

Kuchma appointed Marchuk to head the country's defense ministry in June after he sacked his former minister over "serious failings."

Ukraine has been trying to reform its 390,000-strong armed forces, which have been starved of funds and crippled by corruption since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.

It has also been seeking to get its military in line with NATO standards in a bid to further its attempt to win an invitation from the military alliance.

Kuchma also urged officials to reinforce discipline within the armed forces and ensure the security of the 1,800 troops due to join the Polish-led stabilization force overseeing southern Iraq next month.

Ukraine's military has been plagued with accidents in recent years.

In November 2001, a Ukrainian missile accidentally downed a Russian passenger plane over the Black Sea, killing 78 people.

And on July 27 last year, 77 spectators were killed and nearly 200 injured when a Sukhoi fighter plane crashed into the crowd of an air show near the western town Lviv.

WAR.WIRE