Ministry of Defence streamlines weapons codification and accelerates the supply of new developments to the military

The Ministry of Defence of Ukraine is reforming the approach to codifying weapons and military equipment to shorten the time between product development and delivery to Defence Forces units.

The Government has approved amendments to three regulatory resolutions aimed at reforming codification procedures and streamlining regulatory requirements.

Previously, the technical evaluation of a product was directly linked to the state customer's confirmation of a requirement. If such requirements were not defined or approved, the product would not undergo codification, which slowed the process and delayed the possibility of its procurement.

The updated approach separates technical evaluation from procurement planning, significantly accelerating the introduction of new solutions to the defense market.

Key changes:

Codification

• no longer depends on formal confirmation of an urgent requirement by the state;
• a product may be codified independently of existing procurement plans.

Technical specifications

• are approved by the manufacturer and registered without approval by the state customer;
• the manufacturer assumes full responsibility for their content.

Ammunition

• codification is possible without additional demonstration trials if the state customer has already participated in previous ones.

Unmanned systems and tactical-level electronic warfare (EW) assets

• a manufacturer-issued quality certificate is sufficient for procurement;
• no additional state oversight procedures are required;
• the manufacturer bears full responsibility for quality.

Explosives

• have been added to the list of items that may be procured under the simplified defense procurement framework;
• this enables the timely provision of ammunition and necessary explosives to the military.

“We have opened markets for drones, EW systems, unmanned ground robotic systems, missile solutions, and other innovative capabilities, reduced bureaucracy, and created conditions for the growth of Ukrainian manufacturers. As a result, entirely new technology markets have emerged in Ukraine that did not previously exist. When the full-scale invasion began, Ukraine had only seven drone manufacturers. Today, there are more than 500. In electronic warfare (EW), there were two companies; today, there are 200. There were no private missile manufacturers at all; today, there are more than 20. As for unmanned ground systems, the number has grown from zero to more than 100 companies,” said Minister of Defence Mykhailo Fedorov.

Streamlining codification is the next step to accelerate technological development and shorten the cycle from weapons development to delivery to the front line.