Suspension of weapons procurement for the front: the process has been unblocked, but risks remain
Kyiv • UNN
The procurement process for domestically produced weapons has moved forward after most of the tactical and technical characteristics were approved. However, funding remains partial, and systemic risks have not been eliminated.
The procurement process for domestically produced weapons, which had effectively been frozen due to the impossibility of holding tenders, has begun moving forward. This is stated in a statement by Ihor Fedirko, executive director of the Ukrainian Weapons Manufacturers Council, UNN reports.
According to him, a meeting was held at the Ministry of Defense at which the problem was discussed.
"The overwhelming majority of the technical and tactical characteristics (TTCs) that the market had been waiting for for months were, according to the information presented at the meeting, approved literally yesterday evening and this morning and passed on for the procurement process to be launched. Some contracts that had been awaiting signature for a long time also suddenly began moving forward," Fedirko said.
It should be recalled that the essence of the problem was that competitive procurement procedures had not been launched for the overwhelming majority of domestically produced weapons procurement categories. As stated by the UWC, the reason was that the competency centers newly established under the Ministry of Defense had not formulated the relevant technical and tactical characteristics required to launch the tenders. Accordingly, the Defense Procurement Agency could not launch the procurement process. According to market estimates, this could have led to an interruption in the supply of weapons to the front.
Fedirko said that despite the resolution of some issues, the situation remained difficult.
"As we were told, the competency centers do not develop the technical and tactical characteristics themselves. This is a joint framework of the General Staff and the Ministry of Defense, which is supposed to collect and aggregate information on the use of weapons, lessons learned, data on equipment, and the military's actual needs. Based on this data, the General Staff develops the TTCs, after which they pass through the Ministry of Defense and are transferred to the Defense Procurement Agency.
The problem is that there was no proper synchronization among all these links for a long time. Some decisions were held up by misunderstandings between the General Staff and the Ministry of Defense, which we all know about. Almost all the competency centers have now been formally established, but they are critically short of personnel. Due to staffing changes, appointments, document approvals, and the launch of processes are being delayed. Under an optimistic scenario, meaningful progress should begin by the end of the month," Fedirko said.
According to him, most of the formulated TTCs have already reached the Ministry of Defense and have been transferred to the DPA.
"I hope that this time the journey from 'transferred' to 'received' will not take another several weeks," he added.
According to him, in order not to halt contracting, the Ministry is currently seeking reserves, reallocating available resources, and directing some funds toward direct procurement where possible. Some contracts have already been signed or are at the final approval stage.
"This is a necessary temporary solution. During an active war, you cannot first stop the old mechanism and then spend months launching a new one," Fedirko stressed.
He also reported that by the end of the month, the Ministry had promised to launch an electronic interaction system between the market, the DPA, and the Ministry of Defense.
"A manufacturer must be able to see what stage its application, tender, contract, or documents are at," Fedirko explained.
But financing remains the main problem.
"First and foremost, the financial situation is indeed difficult. A significant portion of procurement depends on European funds, which are not arriving as evenly or according to the schedule required for contracting. Ukraine's domestic resources are limited and do not cover all the needs of the Defense Forces," he said.
According to him, the authorities are seeking sources of financing, but the risks remain.
The UWC executive director also said that weapons manufacturers were not opposed to the tender procurement procedure, but during wartime the model must take the demands of time into account.
"Conducting the procedure, signing the contract, providing the advance payment, procuring components, manufacturing, testing, and supplying complex products can take between three and six months.
There have already been cases when manufacturers did not participate in announced tenders not because they were unwilling to compete. The proposed deadlines simply did not allow enough time to procure components, manufacture the products, and deliver them by the end of the year. Participation in such a procedure meant almost guaranteed penalties," he explained.
According to him, a separate problem is the terms of the contracts, under which several sanctions may be imposed simultaneously for a single violation. This issue has not been finally resolved to date.
"At the beginning of this year, we already experienced an almost five-month pause in contracting for ground robotic systems. This failure cannot be repeated in the winter of ’27. A manufacturer cannot maintain a team, equipment, and a production line for months without orders and then resume serial production in a single day," he stressed.
According to Fedірко, there are currently no grounds to believe that the systemic risks have been eliminated.
"The contracting plan is only partially backed by funding. Technical and tactical specifications have started to be provided, but with delays of months. Competence centers have been established, but are understaffed. The electronic system is only being promised for launch. Meanwhile, manufacturers and the front need results," he stressed.
According to Fedірко, specific individuals are not important at this point—it is important that the system work independently of them.