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11.28
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Impact LevelLow
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Scope LevelNational
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Last Update2025-07-25
Key Impacts
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Event Overview
Ukraine's Brave1 defense incubator launched the 'Test in Ukraine' program, allowing foreign defense firms from allied nations to test prototype weapons such as drones, loitering munitions, and AI-driven systems on the battlefield against Russian forces. Brave1 will provide detailed performance reports in return.
Event Timeline
Ukraine Launches Programme Allowing Foreign Defense Companies to Test Prototype Weapons on the Battlefield
On Thursday, a new programme named "Test in Ukraine" was launched by Brave1, a Ukrainian government-supported defence technology incubator. This initiative enables foreign defense companies from allied nations to bring their prototype weapons—including drones, loitering munitions, naval drones, electronic warfare systems, and AI-driven products—for live battlefield testing against Russian forces in Ukraine. In return, Brave1 commits to providing detailed battlefield performance reports and recommendations for real-time improvements. Participants will also be paired with Ukrainian manufacturers working on similar technologies to facilitate co-production and accelerate deployment. Ukrainian Minister of Digital Transformation, Mykhailo Fedorov, stated this offers an opportunity to develop and refine battlefield-effective technologies that cannot be replicated in laboratory conditions. The announcement builds on recent efforts involving Ukrainian defence tech startups in the EU's broader rearmament plans, highlighted by the recent BraveTechEU partnership that allocates up to 100 million euros jointly from Brave1, the European Defence Fund, and the EU Defence Innovation Scheme to support defence hackathons, investor matchmaking, and research. In addition, the EU has activated a 150 billion euro "SAFE" loan instrument to finance joint defence projects, with a requirement that at least 65 percent of weapon components be sourced from within the EU or Ukraine.