Dorozvidka #2: The “Component Library”, DOT-Chain Defence, and a rescue drone from BUREVII

A weekly round-up of defence tech updates that flew under Defender’s radar

In the Dorozvidka section, Defender highlights defence tech news and stories that landed in our editorial backlog over the week but didn’t make it into full reports.

• Ukraine’s new Component Library has launched — a digital platform that connects weapon and component manufacturers, including those working with UAVs, ATGMs, and EW/ESM. Hosted and moderated by the Ministry of Strategic Industries, it’s designed to foster partnerships and boost local production. Deputy Minister Anna Hvozdiar shared a detailed post on Facebook explaining how the platform works.

• In Q1 2025, the Ukrainian Ministry of Defence codified and approved over 350 new weapon and military equipment types for use by the Ukrainian Armed Forces — 87% of them locally produced. For comparison: the same period in 2024 saw just over 100 new entries, less than half of which were Ukrainian-made. Most new additions include UAVs, compatible munitions, EW tools, vehicles, engineering gear, and ground robotics. Among them are nearly 20 fiber-optic-controlled drones already cleared for deployment.

• The Ardal UGV by Ukrainian company BUREVII successfully evacuated three wounded soldiers from the gray zone under enemy fire — covering over 17 km in combat conditions. The evacuation, coordinated with the 92nd Mechanized Brigade and 154th Marine Brigade, involved 50 troops, EW/ESM tools, aerial reconnaissance, and decoy bomber drones. The result: three soldiers saved, the robot fully intact. Minister Mykhailo Fedorov called it a milestone for the Brave1 cluster.

• Ukraine’s procurement agency, State Rear Operator, presented a demo of DOT-Chain Defence — a new digital logistics platform designed to streamline frontline delivery of UAVs, UGVs, and EW systems. Acting as a marketplace, it will allow units to order specific hardware directly. The result, according to First Deputy Minister of Defence Lt. Gen. Ivan Havryliuk: faster, more targeted, and effective supply chains.

• Deputy Minister of Defence Valerii Churkin held a working session with FPV drone manufacturers and drone unit reps to discuss development challenges and system unification. Ukraine currently fields dozens of FPV systems with similar specs but different platforms, software, and payloads — making operator training and logistics difficult. The new priority: standardize and scale combat-proven solutions, with verified supply chains.

• In March alone, over 77,000 Russian targets were destroyed using various drones — a 10% increase from February. Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi confirmed on April 5 that fibre-optic drones with a 20 km strike radius are now active on the front. He also reported success in intercepting Russian ISR drones via Ukrainian air defence and interceptor drones — nearly 1,000 enemy drones neutralized in a month.

• Ukrainian Ministry of Defenсe is launching a new testing range ecosystem for demining technologies — a step toward accelerating the deployment of innovative solutions in this critical domain.