The Ukrainian military received the first thousand drones through the DOT-Chain Defence weapons marketplace

Service members operating in the Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, Kharkiv, and Kherson directions have already received the first thousand FPV drones ordered through the DOT-Chain Defence weapons marketplace.

The delivery time from the moment an order was placed in the system was less than two weeks. This is more than four times faster than using the standard procurement procedure.

In total, within the first two weeks of operation of the DOT-Chain Defence IT system, the military placed 43 orders for almost 7,000 drones (FPVs and bomber drones) worth nearly UAH 245 million.

“We are already seeing the first results of DOT-Chain Defence – the drones ordered through the marketplace have arrived at the units. The fastest delivery from order to receipt took only six days. Every day shaved off the time between order and delivery to the front line saves lives and enables faster adaptation to changes on the battlefield,” said Arsen Zhumadilov, Director of the Ministry of Defence’s Defence Procurement Agency.

To ensure the smooth launch of the system, the Defence Procurement Agency (DPA) and the State Operator for Non-Lethal Acquisition (DOT) teams conducted special training for units, including on-site visits directly to the combat zone.

Currently, the DOT-Chain Defence weapons marketplace is operating in pilot mode. Twelve brigades located in areas with the most intense combat are participating. The first orders were placed by the military on July 31.

Reference information: The DOT-Chain Defence IT system was developed by the State Operator for Non-Lethal Acquisition and is used by the Defence Procurement Agency to provide the Armed Forces of Ukraine with weapons rapidly and in a targeted manner. It operates as a marketplace: service members use DPA funds to select the types and quantities of UAVs they need. At present, the IT system operates in pilot mode and offers only FPV drones. Upon completion of testing, DOT-Chain Defence will be scaled up to other units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and will expand the list of available equipment for ordering – including electronic warfare (EW) and signals intelligence (SIGINT), electronic intelligence (ELINT) systems, ground robotic systems, various types of UAVs, and related munitions.