From Production to Procurement: How Europe and Ukraine Are Transforming Defense Supply Chains

As Russia's full-scale war against Ukraine enters its fifth year, Kyiv is struggling to supply its troops and lacks the resources to strike military targets deep inside Russia. However, Ukraine is home to an innovative defense industrial sector that is producing well below capacity. To help Ukraine make what it needs to defend itself, Denmark has pioneered a new model to identify and invest directly in Ukrainian firms that can produce necessary systems and ammunition. Other European allies have adopted their own variations on this model, including co-producing weapons with Ukrainian companies.

Investing directly in Ukraine's defense sector allows partners to shorten the time it takes to get weapons to Ukrainian forces while providing jobs for Ukrainians. This model also promotes increased transparency, protecting against the corruption often endemic in traditional procurement models. Meanwhile, by building relationships with Ukrainian firms designing weapons suited for today's battlefield, European countries are strengthening their own capabilities to resist Russian aggression and preparing for a future in which a victorious Ukraine is the best guarantor of Europe's security.

This briefing will examine these procurement models, focusing on their ability to develop the Ukrainian defense industrial capacities while deepening investment and security ties between the West and Ukraine.