With the start of the full-scale war, Ukraine decentralized its defence procurement system and has since become one of the strongest examples of how this model can quickly supply armed forces with the most up-to-date equipment. Brave1 Market is widely known as an “Amazon for War,” where military units can simply open a webpage and select the products they need. But it is much more than that: it connects different stakeholders and sheds light on a defence-tech sector that was previously closed and siloed.
Brave1 Market is now the largest catalogue of defence innovations in Ukraine, where military units, investors, and even someone like me continue to discover new manufacturers and new products. Its value for strengthening Ukraine’s defence capabilities cannot be overstated.
In this article:
Brave1 Market: The Catalogue of Solutions
Cooperation with the Defence Procurement Agency
Army of Drones Bonus Project
E-Points
User Reviews
If you haven’t yet, read my first article on Brave1: Brave1: The Engine Behind Ukraine’s Defence-Tech Community.
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The full-scale war has created completely unprecedented challenges for Ukraine. The nature of combat is changing rapidly, and frontline technologies are evolving just as quickly. At the start of the invasion, many imagined the Ukrainian army as reliant on Soviet-era equipment and Ukraine itself as a country dependent on international assistance, which was only partly true.
It soon became clear that this equipment was not enough: the operational situation changes daily, while centralized deliveries can take six to eight months.
This created a big gap between what soldiers need today and what they actually receive.
Ukrainian engineers, entrepreneurs, and volunteers started developing new technologies rapidly, flexibly, and in constant dialogue with the front. To support these processes, the Brave1 government cluster was created as a tool to help identify technological solutions for the military, relay real needs from frontline units to manufacturers, and organize testing of new developments.
One of their key innovations has been the Brave1 Market.
Brave1 Market: the Catalogue of Solutions
“Soldiers usually receive weapons through centralized state procurement, which, while ensuring common standards, is a complex and slow process. Meanwhile, the daily operational situation on the front does not wait. This raised an important question: how can we speed up soldiers’ access to the technologies they need?” commented Yuliia Myrna, project manager of Brave1 Market, to Ukraine’s Arms Monitor.
The Brave1 Market is an online platform, created in April 2025, that connects Ukrainian military units with developers to integrate innovative defence-tech solutions into the Security and Defence Forces. Units can contact manufacturers directly and purchase drones, various types of robotic systems, AI-based modules, electronic warfare (EW) and electronic intelligence (ELINT) devices, as well as other components that support soldiers in carrying out their missions.
Under Ukrainian law, Brave1, as a civilian organisation, has the right to create an open catalogue of technologies. Each product card includes technical specifications, manufacturer contact information (allowing direct communication and simplified ordering), the option to share the card via messengers, and a section for reviews and comments, enabling users to exchange information about product effectiveness.
The catalogue allows manufacturers to see one another, understand their competition, and assess their own specifications, pricing, and relevance. What was previously done “blindly” has now become transparent.
In just 6 months, Brave1 Market has built an impressive portfolio:
More than 600 manufacturers are represented on the platform.
Over 2,600 product cards are divided into 11 categories, which were created through direct dialogue with the military.
Navigation through these 2,600+ product cards is made as simple as possible thanks to dedicated tools:
If you know exactly what you are looking for, you can use direct search. There are also filters by sub-category to help narrow down the selection.
You can select several items within one sub-category and compare their technical specifications and prices on a single screen.
Through it, soldiers can easily compare products by technical specifications and price; find verified manufacturers; and contact them directly for procurement.
This tool helps both soldiers and civilians. “When someone has a relative fighting on the front, they naturally want to find the necessary equipment—and previously, this was almost impossible. Brave1 made the defence technology catalogue open to the public, which is a unique case globally. The catalogue enables every Ukrainian to contribute and help from wherever they are,” Yuliia added.
Every manufacturer undergoes a thorough vetting process, including checks for:
links to the enemy or terrorist organizations;
bankruptcy risks;
ongoing legal proceedings;
actual production capacity.
This builds trust in the Brave1 marketplace: military users know that every manufacturer in the catalogue has been verified, and in case of communication issues, Brave1 will help resolve them.
The Brave1 Market catalogue has an open and a closed section.
The open section contains products that manufacturers have agreed to make visible to all internet users. The restricted section contains products that manufacturers choose to show only to the military. For example, the Ammunition Catalogue is available exclusively to verified service members.
To gain access to the full catalogue (including restricted product cards), military personnel must log in using their military credentials.
Currently, Brave1 is working on implementing a user feedback system: “It is very important to provide feedback to manufacturers, and we do not want to become a bottleneck in this communication or slow down the process. To avoid this, we are implementing a feature that will allow military personnel to leave feedback directly on a product card — visible only to the manufacturer. This ensures that feedback is used for communication and improvement, not for manipulation”.
Brave1 supports several models for acquiring equipment:
centralized government procurement;
purchases made directly by military units using allocated funds;
purchases by volunteer organizations;
Army of Drones Bonus program, in which soldiers can acquire equipment using combat points.
If the equipment is in stock, delivery to the front can take as little as six days.
Brave1 deliberately does not aggregate delivery data to avoid creating cyber risks — the enemy actively targets critical systems, and the potential consequences of an information leak are too severe.
Army of Drones Bonus
Brave1 works with many government institutions, but its closest cooperation is with the Defense Procurement Agency (DPA). Their procurement processes are happening in parallel. However, unlike the DPA, Brave1 Market enables the military to purchase non-codified products. “If a technology proves effective, it needs to be scaled immediately rather than delayed by lengthy formal procedures of codification,” mentioned Yuliia Myrna.
The Defense Procurement Agency (DPA) of the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine is the national agency responsible for supplying ammunition, UAVs, and equipment for the needs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
One of the most successful cases of cooperation between Brave1 and DPA is the Army of Drones Bonus project. It is an incentive program that provides equipment to all units of Ukraine’s Defence Forces.
For damaging or destroying the enemy’s equipment or personnel, Ukrainian service members earn points, which they can redeem for Ukrainian-made UAVs, electronic warfare systems, and night-vision devices.
For effective implementation, the Defence Procurement Agency uses the digital system DOT-Chain Defence. Thanks to this system, the average time from placing an order to a unit receiving the equipment is 10 days.
Equipment delivered through the DOT-Chain Defence under the Army of Drones Bonus program is additional and is supplied in parallel with other centralized military procurement programs.
Process overview:
Access to the catalog:
Authorized military personnel log into Delta and access the Brave1 Market, where they can view product cards with specifications and available quantities.Earning points:
Units upload verified photo/video evidence of destroyed enemy targets into Delta. After confirmation, points are credited and displayed in the Brave1 Market.Placing an order:
Military users select items in the Brave1 Market, confirm the order, and specify the territorial community for transfer. Delivery details are arranged directly between the unit and the manufacturer. The order is then transferred to DOT-Chain Defence.Order tracking:
Authorized personnel log into DOT-Chain Defence to track order status, view documents, and sign delivery and acceptance forms.Authorization and onboarding:
The DPA requests a list of authorized individuals from the unit. After the unit confirms this list and a brief training session is completed, personnel receive system access.Delivery and documentation:
In DOT-Chain Defence, units track deliveries and expected timelines. Once the equipment arrives, the delivery note is signed digitally. Average delivery time is 10 days.Completion of the cycle:
The supplier issues acceptance certificates, signed by the supplier, the unit commander, and the DPA. After this, payment is processed, and the supply cycle is complete.Finalization and payment:
The supplier issues acceptance certificates for the delivered goods. These are signed by three parties—the supplier, the unit commander, and the DPA—which allows payment to be processed. This completes the full supply cycle, from order to payment.
Responsibilities:
Steps 1–4 — Ministry of Digital Transformation and Brave1
Steps 5–8 — Defence Procurement Agency (DPA).
From August to November 2025, under the ‘Army of Drones Bonus’ program, 71,000 units of equipment were delivered to the military via DOT-Chain Defence. This includes various types of drones and electronic warfare (EW) systems, with a total value of UAH 2.8 billion ($66.5 million USD).
E-Points
One of the most interesting elements of procurement in Ukraine is the so-called e-points (in Ukrainian, “ye-baly” — a name with a humorous connotation; drop me a note if you want to know what it means).
E-points are special points awarded to Ukraine’s military units for verified destruction of enemy equipment or personnel. They can be exchanged for essential equipment available on the Brave1 Market — drones, EW systems, components, and more.
For instance, for eliminating an enemy infantryman, a soldier receives 12 points; a precise hit on a tank earns 40 points, and damaging a tank earns 20 points. Destroying an enemy multiple-launch rocket system yields up to 50 points. The accumulated points form each unit’s rating.
Products on the marketplace also have different point values: FPV drones start at 2 points for 7-inch models and 6 points for FPV drones with night vision. Reusable “bombers,” such as the Vampire drone, cost 43 points.
As of 1 October 2025, points are awarded not only for eliminating enemy forces and mining operations, but also for reconnaissance and logistics missions. Points will soon also be granted for successful battlefield evacuations.
“If the enemy is conducting active assaults, you can destroy a large number of targets—and earn a large number of points,” explained Ihor Raikov, head of the unmanned systems service of the Khartia Brigade, to Radio Svoboda.
Each month, all points earned by every unit are summed up and used to form a ranking of brigades along the entire frontline. The logic is simple: the more enemy targets destroyed, the more points a unit earns—points that are then converted into new equipment.
Each point is worth 10,000 hryvnias ($239), credited as virtual funds to the unit’s account. A soldier logs in and chooses from the products available in exchange for these so-called e-points.
This phenomenon, often called “the gamification of war,” has a positive effect on soldiers’ motivation and a potentially negative impact on their perception of the conflict.
“This kind of ‘gamification’ can distract us from reality. We can get carried away with the game, so to speak—understanding our immediate task very well, but losing sight of the brigade’s or the broader front’s objectives. You might push your own idea of destroying the enemy, while preventing other units from doing their work,” said military psychologist Andrii Kozynchuk to Radio Svoboda.
According to the Khartia Brigade, such issues are avoided because points are accumulated not individually, but for the entire brigade and then allocated according to brigade-level needs.
“We want our people to come back from the war as human beings, not as killing machines,” said Gyunduz Mamedov, a former Ukrainian prosecutor and current advisor on the ethics of drone warfare.
“What is inhumane is starting a full-scale war in the 21st century,” commented the Minister of Digitalization, Mikhailo Fedorov, regarding the impacts of this system on military personnel. And it’s difficult to disagree with him.
When I approached my contact in the unmanned systems forces, he commented on the issue in the following way: “I always tell my guys — keep things separate. Points are an additional, secondary element that goes alongside the real work, like a shadow. We are here to win the war, not to earn points. Points are just an extra feature. We understand that this is not a game, not gambling".
User Reviews
The decentralised systems of defence procurement, together with innovations such as the marketplace and e-points, offer many lessons for Ukraine’s partners. As Yuliia Myrna from Brave1 noted, most countries today are investing in their defence technologies. So creating a similar catalogue of producers and products would be an excellent first step toward supporting domestic ecosystems.
At the same time, Oleksandr Yakovenko, founder and CEO of TAF Industries (whom I recently interviewed for the article “We Can Produce 150,000 FPVs per Month”: Ukrainian TAF Industries”), shared on his social media about the challenges of Ukraine’s decentralized procurement for the producers, but also underscored the absolute necessity of it in times of warfare: “In the past, there was a single centralized buyer (the Ministry of Defence or the Defense Procurement Agency) placing six-month orders. Now there are hundreds of military “bodies,” each with its own requirements. And these very requirements give our forces an advantage on the battlefield, because pilots on the ground know best what they need to accomplish their missions.
But at the same time, this is an extremely demanding challenge for suppliers. Instead of producing a lineup of ten drone configurations, manufacturers now have to produce two hundred—each tailored to the specific needs of a particular unit, in a particular sector of the front, right now. And they must have these systems in stock, ready for deployment.
With every new trip I make to the front, I understand even more deeply how important individualized solutions are. It is a real challenge—and we are adapting our product approach accordingly”.
While Ukraine is often criticized for having a “zoo of drones,” this diversity remains a key factor in its current success under active wartime conditions. For Russian forces, it would be far easier to adapt to three or five standardized drone types than to hundreds of systems, each with its own configuration.
Regarding the importance of the Brave1 market, Yaroslav Sherstiuk, developer of military combat control systems and software, like MyGun, TacticMap, MilChat, and UkropSoft, wrote on his social media the following, “Personally, I see this as an opportunity to give our products new momentum and take another step in their development... For me, this is not just another platform — it is a new communication channel, a chance to hear users’ needs, involve more units, and show how digital solutions truly help on the battlefield.”
Ihor Berehovenko, co-founder and CPO of Air3F, a company that produces ground drones Varkhan and components already available on Brave1 Market, shared that they see value in having an additional communication channel and expanding their market presence. “The attention we received from the Brave1 community during the launch of our new development — the NRK VARKHAN — was extremely important for us. It is nice that manufacturers receive media coverage and community engagement, as this greatly accelerates product development and opens new opportunities. For us, this is highly meaningful, as it allows us to move forward faster and with greater confidence,” he added.
A personal contact from an infantry battalion of the AFU told me that his unit decided to participate in the Army of Drones Bonus program and collect e-points to receive additional drones. They have just started, so they have been experiencing some issues with verification, especially in harsh weather conditions, but overall, the system seems to work well.
That said, all specialised unmanned forces units in Ukraine have already been participating in this program for quite a long time.
Another contact in the military — this time from an unmanned forces unit — shared his experience of how quickly Brave1 responded to their request to change the verification system. Previously, to earn points, units had to upload both drone footage of the strike and a second video from an observer platform—typically a Mavic. However, with Mavics now in short supply in Ukraine, many units were unable to meet this requirement and therefore could not receive points, even for successful operations.
Once this issue was raised with Brave1, the system was promptly adjusted to reflect battlefield realities. “We are being heard, and there is a real feedback loop,” he said.
For military units, collecting these points is important, as they affect the overall ranking of the unit. A higher ranking not only determines access to additional equipment earned through points but also shapes how requests are treated in general: “When we ask for equipment, the attitude toward us is completely different if we have a strong ranking.”
As a conclusion, I want to emphasize the importance of the human factor in this work. Brave1 is a team of dedicated people who no longer remember what a “9–5 job” is and who do everything possible to bring Ukraine’s victory closer under conditions most of us can hardly imagine. As Yuliia noted in her closing remarks, “Our team is in constant daily communication with both manufacturers and military units. Each direction has a dedicated manager who is always on call, often sacrificing personal time to stay connected with dozens of stakeholders. This intense workload allows us to serve as a direct bridge between the front line and industry — we don’t wait to collect or consolidate information, we respond immediately. That is the only way to keep innovation moving at the pace the war demands.”
This level of dedication and professionalism is something we could all aspire to in our personal lives — and organizations like Brave1 demonstrate it under extremely harsh conditions.
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This is really interesting. Ukraine developed this out of necessity and applied intelligence and commitment to make it work. Raises many questions beyond current war. Please keep reporting on this
Any thoughts on how to convert the US procurement system to the Brave1-type of procurement system? Seems like our multi-year or multi-decade approach to building and procuring new weapons has reached a predictable end point.