Ukrainian industry association to open offices in Turkey and Poland

Ukroboronprom, Ukraine’s state-owned industry association that represents the country’s defence vendors (e.g. Antonov), will be opening representative offices in Turkey and Poland.

Speaking at the current International Conference on Security Governance, Ukroboronprom’s Deputy Head Denys Hurak said that Ukraine will seek to strengthen its bilateral military and technical collaboration with Ankara and Warsaw.

Interfax-Ukraine reports that Ukroboronprom and Aselsan, Turkey’s leading defence electronics supplier, could potentially collaborate “in the production of electronic and optical components.” In 2016, Havelsan and Ukroboronprom signed an agreement to jointly develop “communications surveillance” systems.

This was a follow-up on an earlier agreement in May 2016 between Turkey and Ukraine to collaborate on the An-158 and An-178 transport aircraft platforms.

Ukraine is pursuing similar technical collaboration work with Poland. The Kharkiv Morozov Machine Building Design Bureau (KMDB) is reportedly working with Poland’s Huta Stalowa Wola S.A. to develop a 155 mm-tracked self-propelled howitzer using the Oplot-M main battle tank’s (MBT) chassis. Warsaw and Kiev also discussed the possibility of jointly developing a utility helicopter.

Notes & Comments:

Technical collaboration with Turkey and Poland would enable Ukraine to fast-track certain programs and save in research and development costs.

For example, if Ukraine is intending to develop its own Armata-like platform, it would need to pair its prowess in armoured vehicles (e.g. tanks, infantry fighting vehicles, etc) with contemporary electronics subsystems, which is essential for hard-kill active protection systems and modern electro-optical sensors. Aselsan would be a capable partner in these respects, especially since it has developed systems for use on Turkey’s national MBT, the Altay.

Overall, Ukraine’s aim with these partnerships will be to qualitatively enhance its own products, which it will market to the world, especially the developing world. However, consistency and reliability in sourcing and production will be major questions for prospective buyers.