Inside Ukraine’s New Defense Procurement Model: DOT-Chain, Local Budgets, and Digitized Forces

KYIV, November 5, 2025 – Ukraine has overhauled wartime procurement with a dual-track system that blends traditional defense acquisition for lethal equipment with a rapid digital marketplace for non-lethal supplies. In an interview in Lviv in late-September 2025, Oksana Ferchuk, Deputy Minister of Defence of Ukraine for Digital Development, detailed how the approach is accelerating delivery of drones, sensors, and electronic warfare tools to brigades on the frontline.

Backed by local budget allocations, a new DOT-Chain digital marketplace, and a “unique” postal delivery network, the system is designed to cut timelines and enable fast iteration with industry. Ukraine has also expanded digitization across the force with the Army+, Reserve+, and Impulse programs to streamline recruitment, training, and personnel data.

Dual-Track Procurement and DOT-Chain Speed Non-Lethal Deliveries

Ukraine’s Ministry of Defence has institutionalized a two-pillar model: traditional, government-led procurement for lethal capabilities, and a rapid procurement channel for non-lethal systems via the DOT-Chain marketplace. Brigades can order drones and other battlefield technology directly from domestic manufacturers, enabling startups and SMEs to pitch, receive immediate feedback, and iterate quickly.

“Doing it [via traditional Western European procurement], you would spend months, years [waiting for delivery]. Now you are able to test in a week’s time, adjust your products and delivery gap,” Ferchuk said, speaking to Army Technology in Lviv in late-September 2025.

Ukraine’s “unique” postal service, officials say, is able to deliver systems to units while minimizing exposure from paperwork trails or security gaps.

Local Budgets Empower Brigades

Ferchuk said brigades now have access to locally financed budgets that can be used for specific mission needs, expediting the acquisition of urgent non-lethal equipment.

“Each brigade actually has their own budget, supplied from the local communities because brigades are paying a lot of taxes,” said Ferchuk. “It was a decision made by the country that a portion of those taxes and the local authorities will return to the military units as a donation. In such a way, our brigades currently have their own budget, which they are able to spend to the specific tasks.”

“When the government noticed that such direct procurement is working effectively, they started to allocate directly from Ministry of Defence. This is the reason why the brigade can procure directly, not everything, but in areas where the general staff and army commanders decide that it’s wise. It is working very well,” Ferchuk explained.

Early Results: Thousands of UAVs in Weeks

Within two months of the DOT-Chain launch, Ukraine’s military ordered nearly 17,000 UAVs worth about UAH 600m ($14.3m). A pilot involving 12 combat brigades in key sectors – including Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia, Donetsk, and Kherson – is under way.

• Delivery timelines cut “from months to just a few days,” stated Denys Shmyhal at the time.
• Ferchuk described the approach as “absolutely unknown to the conventional military sector” and said it has produced “amazing results.”

She added that rapid iteration is essential as Russia’s EW and tactical doctrine shifts frequently, keeping Ukrainian frontline units operationally relevant.

Ukraine Invites Industry to Learn on the Frontline

Ferchuk urged defense companies to engage directly in Ukraine to remain competitive in a fast-evolving market.

“The innovation is happening in Ukraine. If you would like to be relevant to the battlefield of the current, let’s say, decade, you have to be present in Ukraine.

“If you are not present in Ukraine, trying to sell products with the old conventional methodology, most probably you will be out of this market. Not next year, not three, five years, but in ten years,” Ferchuk contended.

“The Ukrainian Army is a frontier to other countries as well. This is a trained million-person army that knows how to conduct modern war. Other armies… are far behind the current processes, trends, technologies, and tactics. The only way for them to understand it is to come and to see how it’s working,” explained Ferchuk.

“We’ve tried a lot to explain how it works online, workshops, seminars, webinars. It doesn’t work. You have to be on the frontline to understand how it’s done in reality.”

Digitization Push: Army+, Reserve+, and Impulse

Beyond procurement, Ukraine has digitized a large part of its force management to scale more efficiently during wartime. The Army+ and Reserve+ apps support training, administration, and recruitment, while Impulse acts as an analytical database cataloguing soldiers’ skills and requirements.

Ferchuk, who previously worked in Ukraine’s telecommunications sector, called the Reserve+ app “really successful” at helping the government “communicate with your potential audience.”

“It’s a really complicated task, but we have to perform it. There is no other way. If such data, such important data, do not exist online and you cannot rely on it, then your processes and decision making can lead to the incorrect solutions,” Ferchuk said.

War Update: Pokrovsk Pressure and High Operational Tempo

Despite winter approaching, Russia continues incremental advances along portions of the frontline. The Institute for the Study of War reported Russian forces operating with “increased comfort” in parts of Pokrovsk, though claims and counterclaims mean the ground situation remains fluid.

Ukraine’s Ministry of Defence said the intensity of operations “remained high” in October, reporting 5,480 combat engagements – regularly exceeding 200 per day. Russian forces conducted almost 140,000 artillery strikes that month, including 3,353 launched from multiple launch rocket systems, according to the ministry.

Conclusion: Scaling a Fast, Data-Driven Wartime Model

Ukraine’s procurement overhaul – combining DOT-Chain, local brigade budgets, and digitized personnel systems – is delivering non-lethal capabilities faster and encouraging rapid industry iteration. With nearly 17,000 UAVs ordered in weeks and 12 brigades engaged in the pilot, officials say the focus now is on expanding access and keeping pace with battlefield changes. Further rollout of Impulse and continued procurement via DOT-Chain are expected to guide next steps as combat operations remain intense.