United to win: foreign companies to develop and upgrade military equipment for Ukraine’s armed forces

The government has approved the involvement of foreign enterprises in the development and modernization of military equipment for the Ukrainian Defense Forces. The decision was made at the initiative of the Ministry of Defense.

The Ministry of Defense's press service reports this.

"Foreign companies will be able to participate in the development and modernization of weapons if they have special permits for the transfer of military technologies and the export of relevant goods and services.

Particular attention is paid to the modernization of state aviation aircraft, their components, and equipment, as well as ships," Deputy Minister of Defense Brigadier General Anatolii Klochko said.

The adopted resolution introduces changes to:

• the procedure for developing, creating, and launching new types of defense products;
• the process for discontinuing existing types of these products.

The updated mechanism now applies to foreign economic contracts for defense procurement and establishes clear conditions for cooperation with foreign partners.

The document spells out in detail:

• procedure for transferring equipment for modernization;
• requirements for maintaining its serviceability;
• issues of personnel training and quality control.

As the Ministry of Defense emphasized, modernizing outdated equipment will significantly increase efficiency through advanced Western technologies. Such an initiative opens up prospects for foreign partners to create joint high-tech projects in compliance with international standards and principles of transparent cooperation.

In addition, the distribution of intellectual property rights and the procedure for transferring created scientific and technical products have been regulated.

"The innovations will allow us to meet the needs for developing new models and modernizing existing weapons, military, and special equipment.

This will contribute to strengthening Ukraine's defense capabilities in the context of countering Russian aggression," Colonel Vladyslav Shostak, head of the State Research Institute of Aviation, noted.

For reference:

In 2024, the Ministry of Defense allowed more than 1,300 models of weapons and military equipment to enter service, almost 75% of which were domestically produced.

In particular, in 2024, the Ministry of Defense codified and authorized more than 200 models of motor vehicles for use in the army.

"These are numerous models of motor vehicles needed by units of the Defense Forces to perform a wide range of tasks. Among the codified models are light tactical cars, pickup trucks, technical assistance vehicles, mobile workshops, logistics vehicles, and other vehicles manufactured by Ukrainian and foreign automobile companies. In particular, MAN, Iveco, Scania, Volvo, DAF, Peugeot, Toyota, Mitsubishi, etc.," Deputy Minister of Defense Dmytro Klimenkov said.

The Ministry of Defense noted that about 50% of the new automobile products codified last year were domestically produced.

Thus, the Ministry of Defense codified and approved the supply of a special camouflage vehicle, Coyote, to the Defense Forces.

The Ministry of Defense also codified and approved the Ukrainian-made unmanned aircraft complex "Shchedryk" for use in the Defense Forces.

It was also reported that the Lviv School of Computer Technologies and Construction had developed the unique "HURKIT" all-wheel-drive buggy, which has no equivalent.

In addition, tests of drones with fiber-optic communication were recently completed in Ukraine.

Moreover, Ukrainian developers have created a new unmanned drone, WarDog, which can conduct reconnaissance in rugged terrain under the influence of enemy electronic warfare.