Ukraine will allow foreign defense companies to test their latest weapons directly on the battlefield through a new government-backed program called “Test in Ukraine,” officials announced Thursday.
Brave1, a defense tech cluster established in 2023, is coordinating the initiative. Under the program, manufacturers can send their systems to Ukraine, provide online training to troops, and receive feedback from the military.
“The goal of Test in Ukraine is to actively engage international partners in creating technologies that could change the course of the war,” Brave1 said in a statement. “For the first time, foreign producers of drones, UAVs, loitering munitions, naval drones, electronic warfare systems, and AI-driven products now have a clear roadmap for testing their solutions directly in Ukraine.”
According to Brave1, manufacturers participating in the test can conduct on-site trials and make real-time adjustments to their products, or leave the process to Brave1 specialists, who will handle the testing independently and deliver a detailed report on the results.
Brave1’s head of investor relations, Artem Moroz, told Reuters that the platform has drawn up a priority list of military technologies it plans to test.
Leading that list are new air defense systems, drone interceptors, AI-guided technologies, and a range of solutions designed to counter gliding bombs.
Ukraine’s push for the new testing program comes as Russian forces continue a grinding 1,000-kilometer offensive and intensify airstrikes. On July 15, the EU’s top diplomat accused Russia of expanding its use of chemical weapons to inflict maximum suffering.
