Since the beginning of 2024, the Defense Procurement Agency (AOZ) of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine has already concluded contracts for more than 400,000 unmanned aerial vehicles of various types, from small FPV drones to deep strikes capable of hitting targets far beyond the front line. The vast majority of them are produced in Ukraine. About this reported Director of the AHO Marina Bezrukova.
According to her, only in the last two weeks, 21 contracts for the supply of drones worth more than 3 billion hryvnias were signed. She emphasized that the AOZ, as a unit of the Ministry of Defense, operates within strict requirements and restrictions
- only those weapons that have received NATO codification can be contracted;
- it is possible to contract only those manufacturers who have confirmed their production capabilities to the military offices of the Ministry of Defense.
She noted that this approach has its advantages and disadvantages. For example, drones that are not on the official list cannot be contracted, even if they receive positive feedback from the military. However, if these drones prove effective, they may be added to the list of priority orders.
Bezrukova also emphasized that the agency constantly maintains contact with manufacturers, receives feedback from them and initiates changes aimed at simplifying procedures and shortening the time of concluding contracts.
The official emphasized that verification by military offices has already become much easier, but there are still many opportunities for further improvement of the process of procurement of drones in accordance with the regulatory requirements of the Ministry of Defense.
