The Ministry of Defense of Ukraine is changing its approach to the codification of weapons and military equipment in order to reduce the time from product development to its entry into the troops. The government has already made relevant amendments to three resolutions that regulate the procedures for evaluating and purchasing defense products. The Ministry of Defense reports this.
The key innovation is that the technical evaluation of a product no longer depends on confirmation of an urgent need. From now on, products can undergo codification regardless of current procurement plans, which will allow manufacturers to enter the defense orders market faster.
The requirement for mandatory confirmation of the need to start the codification procedure has been canceled. Manufacturers also received the right to independently approve technical specifications for their products, and the Ministry of Defense will carry out procurement on the basis of these documents.
The testing procedure for ammunition has been simplified – duplication of demonstration tests has been eliminated, which should reduce codification times and speed up deliveries. As for unmanned systems and tactical-level electronic warfare equipment, a quality certificate from the manufacturer will be sufficient for procurement. Additional state control procedures will not be applied, and responsibility for quality rests with the manufacturer.
In addition, the procedure for purchasing explosives for enterprises manufacturing ammunition has been simplified. It is expected that this will speed up production processes and provide units with the necessary means.
The department notes that previous steps towards deregulation have already yielded results: if at the beginning of the full-scale invasion, seven drone manufacturers were operating in Ukraine, now there are over 500 of them. In the field of electronic warfare, the number of companies has increased from two to about 200. More than 20 private missile manufacturers and more than 100 companies developing ground-based robotic complexes have also appeared.
The update of the codification rules is considered the next stage of the defense procurement reform. The Ministry of Defense expects that this will allow to shorten the cycle of introducing new technologies and provide the military with modern weapons more quickly.
