Defense Ministry simplifies procedure for codifying weapons, military equipment up to ten days
Minister of Defense of Ukraine Rustem Umerov approved the Instructions for organizing the supply of weapons, military and special equipment to the Ministry of Defense during the legal regime of martial law, the press service of the ministry said.
"Now the procedure for obtaining a new model of weapons and military equipment with a NATO code is reduced to ten days. Let us remind you that a model of weapons and military equipment that has been codified is allowed to be purchased from the state budget and used in units of the Ukrainian Defense Forces," the ministry said.
It is noted that on November 21, 2023, at the initiative of the Minister of Defense, at a meeting of the Cabinet of Ministers, changes were made to Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers No.345 dated February 25, 2015. This decision simplified the procedure for codification (approval for operation) of new weapons and military equipment proposed by the developers up to 20 days. Before this decision of the Cabinet of Ministers, the process of admitting new weapons and military equipment to operation lasted several months or years. This decision played an important role in many ways in increasing the amount of new equipment and weapons in the army.
The new instructions further simplify the existing procedure by removing individual duplicative steps from the process.
"The situation at the front requires the acceleration of many processes. In particular, the approval for operation of new types of weapons and military equipment for our units. Therefore, a number of proposals have been prepared to optimize processes and improve the existing regulatory framework for assigning NATO codes to weapons and military equipment," First Deputy Minister of Defense of Ukraine Ivan Havryliuk said.
The improvement of certain algorithms currently allows the Ministry of Defense to codify the delivery item based on the results of studying the tactical and technical specification of samples of defense goods declared by the developer and familiarizing themselves with the results of tests conducted by the developer himself.
The proposal for codification of the sample with a package of documents is accompanied by a program and methods for testing the sample, an act and protocols of the sufficiency of tests carried out by the developers to confirm the declared tactical and technical characteristics of the sample, and a draft technical specification agreed with the military representative office. In this case, according to the rules of the new Instructions, the manufacturer can undergo the testing procedure as quickly as possible.
When enterprises developing weapons and military equipment do not have the resource and technical capabilities to conduct tests, for example, of a projectile, on their own, then a joint decision is made between the Ministry of Defense and the manufacturer to conduct such a test. In this case, the process of codifying a new type of weapon may take a little longer.