Median salary in Ukrainian defence tech is $2,500: who earns the most

In June 2026, the median salary for Ukrainian defence tech employees was $2,500. The highest remuneration is received by DevOps specialists, hardware engineers and product managers. This is according to DOU, based on a survey of 542 people.

Compared to last year, the median salary fell by $500 – in June 2025 it stood at $3,000. As a result, remuneration in defence tech is currently $200 lower overall than in civilian IT: $2,500 versus $2,700.

At the same time, some positions earn more: DevOps & SRE, DS/AI/ML/Data Engineering, Product Management, QA. The lowest salaries in defence tech are in the HR & Recruiting specialisation – there the median salary stands at $1,590.

The median salary for purely defence tech positions (UAV engineer, design engineer, radio engineer, etc.) stands at $2,000.

Employees with Lead+, Senior titles and managers earn more in IT. At the same time, Middle, Junior and Intern titles receive higher salaries in defence tech.

Among the surveyed defence tech employees, the majority are men – 75%, and the median age is 31.

At the same time, almost half of the respondents have a hybrid work format – 47%. Another 33% work in the office, and 20% – remotely. The most frequently mentioned place of residence in the responses is Kyiv and the region, in second place is the Lviv region, followed by Dnipro and other cities.