Stelios Kanavakis - Senior Defence Analyst

The State Concern UKROBORONPROM headed by General Director Mr. Roman Romanov, represented the latest developments of the Ukrainian military-industrial complex at Eurosatory 2016.

“Ukrainian defense industry changed significantly since the last exhibition in 2014. We have chosen international standards trajectory and hugely increased production capacities of our enterprises. The Ukrainian army started receiving modern weapon samples”, Mr. Roman Romanov said.

Ukroboronprom has delivered a series of systems to the Ukrainian Armed Forces, which were deployed in combat to the east of the country.

Ukroboronprom enterprises provide significant modernization of existing military equipment, produce and develop new samples. For two years the State Concern has tested new armored vehicles “Dozor-B”, adapted BTR-4 in accordance with NATO standards, developed and delivered to the armed forces UAVs of domestic production.

One of the most important goals of the Ukrainian defence industry is to produce equipment according to the NATO standards. That would allow the Ukrainian Armed Forces to operate systems that would be far away from the Soviet-era designs. Moreover, that would open the road for exports to a large pool of customers that include not only member-states of the Alliance but all those who would be interested in using equipment of high standards.

Under this standardization initiative, Ukroboronprom has taken two steps. The first has been the organization of more than 300 meetings with NATO’s defence manufacturers and representatives of the country’s industry, in order to discuss the possibility of working on joint programmes. The second is the integration of western systems in its platforms, in an effort to make them more attractive to international customers. An example of this is the use of German-made Deutz engines and US-made Allison gearboxes in the BTR-3E1 wheeled armoured vehicles.

Further to the above steps, Ukroboronprom has a positive stance towards the creation of a NATO standardization centre in the country. Nevertheless, the implementation of this decision lies in the political level and the country’s MoD decision-makers. All parties involved are currently working towards this goal but nothing concrete has been announced so far.

In addition, Ukraine will eventually substitute imports of various parts that were produced in other countries, including Russia. That has already led some companies of Ukroboronprom to invest in reengineering those parts and produce them locally.

One of the most important initiatives is the “Ukrainian Shield” announced by Ukroboronprom. Mr. Roman Romanov characterized it as an “economic and military security” project that would support the 8,000 people working in the defence industry; increase the industry’s capabilities; attract foreign investments; use the country’s highly specialized labour force; increase exports up to 70% and support employment to the wider economy.

According to the Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, the “Ukrainian Shield” should not only supply the Ukrainian Armed Forces with modern equipment but give jobs to the people.

The war taking place at the East of the country has had serious effects on the economy and its defence industry. The currency was devaluated by 30% and some industries, including an ammunition factory, that were located in Crimea are now lost. Army Recognition has learned that Ukroboronprom is working towards rebuilding a new ammunitions factory.

At the same time its management tries to turn the financial problems into a competitive advantage. More specifically, the devaluation of the currency and the drop in wages, with the average salary being around USD200, has made Ukrainian products highly competitive regarding their prices. As a result of this situation, Ukroboronprom has already marked a series of export contracts to foreign customers.

Ukroboronprom aims towards an active dialogue with representatives of other countries, experience and technology exchange, import substitution program speed up, new partners search and assuring workload to the UKROBORONPROM enterprises, that are not engaged in production, for the NATO needs in Eastern Ukraine.

At Eurosatory 2016, Ukroboronprom showcases scale models of anti-tank systems, ground-based air defence  systems, armoured vehicles and tanks. A highlight of the pavilion is the Dozor-B light armoured vehicle. It was designed from scratch in Ukraine. Ten units have been delivered to the Ukrainian Army for testing and more orders could follow in the near future.

The UKROBORONPROM enterprises that are beign represented in Paris are the SC “Ukrspetsexport,” STIF “Ukrinmash,” State Enterprise “Kharkiv Morozov Machine-Building Design Bureau,” SE “Kyiv Armored Plant,” SE “Lviv Armored Plant,” SE “Zhytomyr Armored Plant,” SE “Scientific-Technical Complex“Precision Engineering Plant,” SE “Design Bureau “Artillery Armament,” Public Joint Stock Company “Plant “Mayak,” State Enterprise “State Kyiv Design Bureau “Luch,”State Enterprise “Izyum Instrument-Making Plant,” PJSC “Research and Production Association “Kyiv Automatics Plant Named After G.Petrovsky.”