Ukrainian arms dealers unveil tactics for acquiring weapons for Ukraine’s Armed Forces

16 May, 2023 Weapons exhibition at the SOFWeek special operations forces conference in the United States, May 2023 Ukrainian arms buyers discuss the current problems of the Ukrainian army, its needs, and challenges during the war. A representative of a Ukrainian company that purchases weapons for the Ukrainian army told this in his interview for The War Zone.

The interview was conducted during the SOFWeek Special Operations Force Conference in the United States. A Ukrainian company representative, who wished to remain anonymous to foreign journalists, provided only his name - Ihor. He said that his company was looking for weapons and equipment and purchasing them for the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, SOF, SSU and other units.

His company also helped foreign companies organize their own products' presentations and testing in Ukraine. Currently, one of the main tasks for the organization is the purchase of various reconnaissance and strike drones. "So we require different types of drones, and we also need a lot of kamikaze drones because drones [are cheaper to operate than missiles], which we don't have.

All these are commercially available on the market: drones from Polish and U.S. producers. German ones, as I remember. So every single one that is available.

So of course we try to make something inside Ukraine, and for this reason Ukrainian producers bought a lot of components on the market," said Ihor.

WARMATE loitering munition. Photo credits: WB Electronics

Another problem with the purchase of drones is the long cycle of their production and the lack of consignments ready for shipment. "So if we're talking about kamikaze drones, which aren't available in large quantities at the market <...> we are ready to procure as much as the whole world could produce," the dealer explained.

Another issue is the lack of experience using some UAV samples on the market in real combat. This complicates their purchase because the products may not be quite ready for battle or vulnerable to enemy countermeasures. According to Ihor, there is a very difficult situation with enemy electronic warfare systems on the front line in Ukraine now.

The Russians are actively using EW to suppress GPS and communications. This critically affects battlefield coordination and unmanned aircraft activity.