The Ukrainian government plans to spend a lot more money, around US$1. 4 billion, in 2024 to buy and make weapons in their own country. This is much more than the amount they spent before Russia invaded.
Also, many weapons are now being purchased from private companies instead of government-owned factories. They are growing all over the country and quickly becoming the main players in an industry that used to be controlled by government-owned companies.
Ukraine needs all the help it can get to push Russia away from its land. A good thing that is happening is the small but quickly growing defense industry. The government is giving lots of money to this industry because they hope that making more weapons and ammunition in our own country will help us in the fight.
Over the last year, the US and Europe have been working really hard to send weapons and help to Ukraine. This is because Ukraine is dealing with a strong Russian military and has a strong defense industry of its own.
A factory that makes mortar shells and is owned by individuals started in western Ukraine last year. It makes about 20,000 shells every month.
“I think we are getting closer to winning for our country,” said Anatolli Kuzmin, the 64-year-old owner of the factory. He used to make farm equipment and left his home in southern Ukraine when Russia invaded in 2022.
However, the defense sector in Ukraine has been limited by a lack of money and staff, as well as excessive government bureaucracy, like many other parts of the country’s military system. A stronger business industry could help get rid of problems and make factories produce weapons and ammo even faster.
The situation is very important.
Russia has taken control of a big part of Ukraine and is moving forward along a long front line by using many troops to make small advances. Ukrainian soldiers often face more enemy soldiers and better weapons, and this has made them feel less motivated.
“We need a mortar right away, not in three years, preferably yesterday,” said Taras Chmut, the director of the Come Back Alive Foundation. They have raised over $260 million in the last ten years to give Ukrainian troops weapons and vehicles.
Business people during war times
Kuzmin, who owns a factory that makes parts for farm equipment, left the city of Melitopol in the south when Russia took over his factory in 2022. He started making a model of mortar shells right after Russia took over Ukraine in 2014 and annexed Crimea.
Kuzmin took control of a large warehouse in western Ukraine last winter. He wants to make 100,000 shells every month and make engines and explosives for drones.
He is one of the entrepreneurs changing Ukraine’s weapons industry, which was controlled by government-owned companies after the Soviet Union broke up. Today, most of the defence industry is owned by private companies, which is very different from how it was a year ago, and is the opposite of Russia’s defence industry, which is controlled by the government.
Every new projectile is put in craft paper and packed in wooden boxes. Then it is sent to Romania or Bulgaria where explosives are put inside. A few weeks later, they are sent back and sent to the front.
Kuzmin wants to build a factory to make explosives and is looking for a partner to help.
Challenges that stop something from getting bigger.
Ukraine is spending more on its military, but they are not getting the $60 billion in aid from the US and European countries are having trouble giving them enough ammunition.
Ukraine’s defense sector has improved a lot, but they can’t beat Russia without a lot of help from Western countries. This is according to Trevor Taylor, a research fellow at a think tank in London.
“Ukraine cannot make all the weapons it needs for this battle,” Taylor explained. “The delay of $60 billion of American aid is causing a big problem. ”
Russia is spending more money on its military industry, which has helped protect its economy from the worst effects of Western sanctions. The defense minister, Sergei Shoigu, recently said that they have made a lot more tanks, drones and ammunition for the country’s military.
“The whole country is standing up and working to win,” he said.
Ukraine made a lot more mortar shells and artillery ammunition this year compared to last year. This was said by Oleksandr Kamyshin, Ukraine’s minister of strategic industries. There are many new drone companies starting up, and the government is spending about $1 billion on the technology, in addition to its defense budget.
“We used to make in a year what we now make in a month,” said Vladislav Belbas, the boss of Ukrainian Armour, which makes lots of military vehicles.
The 28th brigade of the Ukrainian army is fighting near Bakhmut. They have not had any problems with getting weapons from other countries because they can make their own. Major Artem Kholodkevych said that they can cover their weapon needs with what they can make in Ukraine.
However, weapon factories in our country have many problems. These include making sure they have the right weapons for soldiers and being at risk of being attacked by missiles from Russia.
However, the biggest problem right now is not having enough workers.
Yaroslav Dzera, who runs a factory for Ukrainian Armour, has a hard time finding and keeping good workers. Many of them have been sent to fight, which makes it even harder.
Dealing with administrative obstacles or bureaucracy.
Weapons companies say that bureaucracy is making it difficult for them to grow.
The government is trying to work better since the war started. They are also making it clear how they choose companies to work with. However, government representatives say that the country still has a lot of progress to make.
Right before President Volodymyr Zelenskyy took over, Ukraine’s former top general, Valerii Zaluzhnyi, wrote an essay for CNN. He said Ukraine’s defense sector was held back by too many rules and not enough competition.
Despite facing difficulties, Ukraine’s drone industry has been a success story. Sea drones made in Ukraine are a good weapon against the Russian ships in the Black Sea.
There are about 200 companies in Ukraine that are now making drones, and they are making a lot more drones than before. In December, they made 50 times more deliveries than they did a year ago, according to Mykhailo Fedorov, who is Ukraine’s minister of digital transformation.
Russia’s war in Ukraine is not just about who has better drones or missiles, said Serhii Pashynskyi, who is in charge of the National Association of Ukrainian Defence Industries trade group.
“We are only competing with Russia in terms of people and money for the war,” he said. “If we learn to use these two simple things, we will succeed. ” If we don’t, it will be a big issue.