Copyright © HT Digital Streams Limit all rights reserved. Isabel Coles, The Wall Street Journal 6 min Read May 18, 2025, 10:35 am Ist Ukraine’s defensive industry expands quickly amid war and delivers key weapons, but still depends on Western help for scale. (Beeld: Reuters) Summary with future US assistance, Kyiv is raising the domestic production of weapons such as his Bohdana Howitzer. In the first years of Russia’s invasion, Ukraine relied heavily on a wealth of Western weapons to equip his powers. Now, from the crucible of war, Kyiv’s own defense industry produces more weapons than ever. Ukraine had only a single prototype of his domestic produced Bohdana Howitzer when Russia invaded. Last year, Kyiv said it produced more artillery rifles than all the countries of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization together. While Western allies were slow to increase weapon production, the value of the defense industry of Ukraine’s defense of $ 1 billion in 2022 to $ 35 billion over three years of war, even though Russia fired missiles on its factories. With the support of the US drying up, Ukraine’s defensive industry is increasingly the key to the country’s ability to maintain the fight against Russia – or endorse its sovereignty in the case of a peace agreement. The more of his own weapons can produce Ukraine, the less vulnerable it will be for the vagaries of international politics or kinks in borderline supply chains. The country also regards its defensive industry as a after -war revenue stream for its battered economy and a way to further integrate itself into the West by becoming one of its suppliers. “Ukraine will always need its own strong weapons so we can have our own strong Ukrainian state,” said President Volodymyr Zelensky. More than 40% of the weapons used on the front line with Russia are now being made in Ukraine, Zelensky said. In some areas, such as drones, unmanned land systems and electronic warfare, the figure is close to 100%. Ukrainian manufacturers are also taking out growing amounts of traditional armament such as artillery systems, armored vehicles, mines and ammunition of all calibers. Vitaliy Zagudaev says his business produces more than 20 Bohdanas a month. “In Western countries, there is more competition for the best computer scientific degrees or IT people,” says Rob Lee, senior fellow of the Foreign Policy Research Institute, a thinking tank for foreign policy. “In Ukraine, much of the best talent went into defense.” But even the robust transformation of his homemade arsenal will not be enough for Ukraine to keep Moscow’s forces alone. Ukraine needs the US and other Western allies to go to the Russia’s war machine. It can not produce nowhere close enough ammunition to shoot its guns, or any of the air defense undercutters it needs to protect against Russian missiles. And although weapon production has bleed, Kyiv’s budget is tense. This year, the government will only be able to buy less than half of what defense manufacturers can produce, says Oleksandr Kamyshin, an adviser to Zelensky and former strategic industries minister. “It’s painful if you can’t produce and you have nothing to fight with,” he said. “It’s twice as painful as you can produce, but you can’t finance the acquisition.” To utilize the extra capacity, some Western governments finance weapons purchases of Ukrainian defense companies under the so -called Danish model, in which they, instead of providing Kyiv with Western weapons, provide funds to purchase weapons from Ukrainian defense manufacturers. Lee said: “Investing directly in these businesses is the best use of available funds regarding obtaining an impact on the battlefield,” Lee said. The war served as a test land for a variety of weapons that have not seen previously active service, providing NATO countries with valuable lessons on how they perform in the fight. Ukraine inherited a large part of the Soviet defense industry when it gained independence, but the manufacturing capabilities quickly deteriorated. A private company developed the Bohdana in 2016, but received no orders until Russia invaded, said Vitaliy Zagudaev, director -general of the Kramatorsk Heavy Duty Machine Tool Building Plant. After Russia invaded in 2022, the fear that the system would be captured was so great that Zagudaiev received instructions to dissolve the only prototype. Until then, it was only used as part of an Independence Day Parade. Soon, however, Zagudaiev received instructions to put the gun back together, to use on the front line. The Bohdana, who was deployed with a French building Caesar Self-propelled Howitzer, bumped Russian positions on Snake Island in the Black Sea and forced Moscow to relinquish the rocky outside in the first summer of the war. Orders for the Bohdana began to roll in, but the plant in eastern Ukraine was in Russia’s cross chairs. Under shot, workers began to shift the production to new facilities in the west of the country, but not until more than half of the equipment was destroyed. Replacement orders were too long, so the company made its own equipment. The production was distributed to reduce the impact of any Russian attack. If a rocket hit one facility successfully, the other can continue to produce. The production of the gun exceeded all day through the operation of the gun of the wheel chassis on which the Bohdana was mounted. The company now produces more than 20 Bohdanas a month, Zagudaev said. Russia can make about 40 artillery rifles in the same period, according to a study by the Kiel Institute. The final Bohdana is only compiled at the last minute to minimize the chances of being targeted before reaching the front line. “One of the lessons of this war is that the demand for quantity is very great,” says Lee. “It’s not just about having beautiful systems-it has enough to maintain a year or longer a high-intensity war without significantly humiliating your army?” While Swedish built Sagittarius or Panzer 200 Howitzers of Germany have more sophisticated electronics, they take longer to produce and are much more expensive. The self -propelled Bohdana costs 2.8 million euros pair, equivalent to $ 3.1 million, compared to € 8.76 million for the Sagittarius, or about € 4 million for the emperor. And the Bohdana is easier to recover and maintain. “Any part is available within 24 hours,” Zagudaiev said. “We have mobile brigades that work on the whole front line.” About 85% of Bohdana’s components are now produced domestically, including the barrel, which over time weakens. The company is developing its own chassis to further reduce the dependence on imports, Zagudaev said. Last year, it began to produce a dragged gun, which is cheaper than the self -propelled version and useful in defense. Operators on the front line are constantly incorporated during design adjustments. Each of the Bohdana’s electrical or hydraulic systems has a corresponding mechanical system. This makes the gun heavier, but that means it can continue to work in the case of an electrical or hydraulic failure, Zagudaiev said. The Danish government finances the purchase 18 Bohdana Howitzers for the armed forces of Ukraine. The Bohdana shows how far Ukraine’s defensive industry has come. But attempts to produce the NATO standard 155 mm ammunition, central to the war effort, illustrate the obstacles. VladySlav Belbas says a lack of financing has kept a project to produce NATO standard ammunition. The private company Ukrainian armor has set up a facility to produce 155 mm ammunition with the license and drawings transferred by the Czechoslovakian group, which also produce propellants, fuse and primers that cannot be produced in Ukraine. The company, which also makes armored vehicles, planned to produce 100,000 rounds of 155 mm ammunition and 300,000 next year – a fraction of the three to four million rounds that the Ukraine goes through a year. However, the project is at stake because the company did not receive money from the government, said CEO VladySlav Belbas. “We have to move faster,” he said. “It’s more than just things for us.” Write to Isabel Coles at isabel.coles@wsj.com, catch all the business news, market news, news reports and latest news updates on live currency. Download the Mint News app to get daily market updates. More Topics #russia Ukraine War #Defence Sector Currency Specials
Ukraine makes more weapons than ever – but still can’t fight against Russia alone
