> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.battlepolicy.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Ukraine's NATO Procurement Deal Opens Allied Tenders to Its Underused Arms Factories - URL: https://www.battlepolicy.com/ukraines-nato-procurement-deal-opens-allied-tenders-to-its-underused-arms-factories/ - Published: 2026-10-22T20:11:45.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-22T20:11:45.000Z - Description: Ukraine's new NSPA partnership gives its defence manufacturers a standing route to allied tenders. It does not settle Patriot supply, and Kyiv's own export costs still stand between eligibility and sales. - Author: Marcus Schuler - Tags: Ukraine, Europe, Policy, #analysis, NSPA, NATO, Security Cooperation Support Partnership, defense exports, Drone Deals, PURL, patriot, Brave1, Yevhen Khmara *The NSPA partnership gives Ukrainian defence manufacturers a standing route to allied buyers. Kyiv's export costs and licensing rules still stand between eligibility and sales.* Ukraine's dedicated partnership with NATO's Support and Procurement Agency, made public on October 22, matters most as a route for factories the Ukrainian state cannot keep busy to sell to allies. Deputy Defence Minister Mstyslav Banik called Ukraine "the first and only country (and not even a NATO member)" with a separate partnership serving as a single entry point to the agency. The buying channel promises savings. The selling channel could sustain production Kyiv cannot finance. ## The October 14 agreement Ukraine's Cabinet approved the draft agreement on August 13, 2026, and Defence Minister Yevhen Khmara signed it on October 14, according to the [Ministry of Defence](https://mod.gov.ua/en/news/ukraine-nato-procurement-via-nspa?ref=battlepolicy.com). The signing was announced that day at an NSPA industry event in Kyiv attended by about 150 Ukrainian defence companies. The Security Cooperation Support Partnership gives Ukraine potential access to NSPA's 45 partnerships covering weapons procurement, maintenance and life-cycle support. Requests can run through existing contracts or new tenders in which Ukrainian and foreign firms compete simultaneously. NSPA can pool Ukraine's demand with other countries and capability coalitions, adapt its procedures, and draw funding from Ukraine's budget, partners or joint financing. The partnership was set up in 2025; its other members are Belgium, Luxembourg, Norway, Sweden, the United Kingdom and NATO Headquarters, according to NSPA's announcement. In April 2026 the North Atlantic Council approved NSPA issuing solicitations to and signing contracts with Ukrainian industry. Manufacturers can now register in NSPA's supplier database, bid on equal terms with foreign firms and contract directly with the agency. AFP reported that Kyiv would buy through the agency on a "case-by-case basis." The arrangement is separate from PURL, under which allies fund US weapons for Ukraine. NATO puts PURL funding at more than $6 billion since July 2025. The supplier side carries the larger stake. The EU Institute for Security Studies estimates that Ukrainian public procurement, even with EU assistance, uses only 30% of the country's defence production capacity. NSPA's tender list is now open to the rest. Frequently Asked Questions What did Ukraine sign with NATO's procurement agency? Defence Minister Yevhen Khmara signed an agreement on October 14, 2026, bringing Ukraine into NSPA's Security Cooperation Support Partnership, according to Ukraine's Ministry of Defence. It lets Kyiv buy through existing NSPA contracts or new tenders, and pool demand with other countries. Can Ukrainian companies sell through NSPA? Yes. The North Atlantic Council approved NSPA contracting with Ukrainian industry in April 2026\. Manufacturers can register in the supplier database, bid on equal terms with foreign firms and sign contracts directly with the agency. Does the deal give Ukraine access to Patriot missiles? Not on current evidence. Kyiv Post reported it is unclear whether the partnership covers Patriots, since the Pentagon must approve their procurement and transfers. It is separate from PURL, the allied-funded channel for US weapons. How much spare capacity does Ukraine's defence industry have? The EU Institute for Security Studies estimates €30.5 billion, with state procurement using about 30% of it. It cites estimates of up to €1.8 billion in arms exports in 2026. What still blocks Ukrainian arms exports? Licensing and cost. Brave1's Andrii Hrytseniuk said exporters pay 20% of a prospective contract upfront, and an industry group warned of 20% to 30% permit fees. Oko Camera's Denys Nikolayenko said there is no working export procedure for pure defence firms yet. AI-generated summary, reviewed by an editor. [More on our AI guidelines](https://www.battlepolicy.com/ai-guidelines/). Read next — from the Lexicon - [Stridsvagn 122 (Strv 122)](https://www.battlepolicy.com/stridsvagn-122/) - [MICA](https://www.battlepolicy.com/mica/) - [Saab 340 AEW&C (ASC 890)](https://www.battlepolicy.com/asc-890/) Below this point - Patriot and the Pentagon - €30.5 billion in spare capacity - JATEC and counter-drone demand - Kyiv's export costs - Ukrainian suppliers and European primes - Tenders, permits and interceptors ## Patriot and the Pentagon The partnership leaves Ukraine's most urgent procurement question where it was. Kyiv Post reported that it is unclear whether the new channel would cover Patriots, because the Pentagon must approve their procurement and transfers. President Volodymyr Zelensky has said Ukraine's [PAC-3](https://www.battlepolicy.com/patriot-pac-3/) stocks are exhausted and accused Washington of delaying missiles already paid for through PURL. Washington maintains that supplies continued as usual. The new partnership offers no disclosed alternative route to those missiles. Jacqueline Borsboom, NSPA's director of support to operations, told the Financial Times the agreement gives Ukraine "a more structured framework to leverage a broad range of capabilities that we offer: procurement expertise, support services and access to established industrial base." Her concrete example of what Kyiv could order was uniforms. Existing contracts can spare Kyiv a separate negotiation for each purchase. They do not, on the evidence disclosed, touch the Patriot approval problem. The politics push Kyiv to diversify anyway. Reuters described worsening US-Ukraine relations after President Donald Trump announced a diesel export deal with Russia this month. Ukraine has complained of disruptions to intelligence sharing and Starshield access; Zelensky said talks in Oslo had agreed to resolve those issues. ## €30.5 billion in spare capacity Ukraine's financing gap gives the supplier provisions their weight. The [EU Institute for Security Studies' September brief](https://www.iss.europa.eu/publications/briefs/building-together-how-europe-and-ukraine-should-deepen-their-defence-industrial?ref=battlepolicy.com) estimates spare production capacity at €30.5 billion, of which state procurement uses 30%. It cites estimates of up to €1.8 billion in Ukrainian arms exports in 2026, excluding joint-venture output. Allied orders could employ capacity that domestic budgets leave idle. The institute puts this year's output at around 7 million drones, almost ten times the level three years earlier. An open ecosystem of roughly 800 companies accounts for up to 90% of FPV drone production, and domestic industry covers about half of Ukraine's overall defence needs. Spare capacity in some lines coexists with shortages in others, so export policy has to tell them apart. State demand is rising too, just not fast enough. The Ministry of Defence said on October 11 that its procurement agency had contracted 5.5 times as many drones as in the same period of 2025, with deliveries up almost 3.7 times. Neither figure shows the state can buy everything manufacturers can build. ## JATEC and counter-drone demand The export case rests on speed under combat demand as much as on factory space. Phil Carrotte of the NATO-Ukraine Joint Analysis, Training and Education Centre said allies "want those technologies" and want to understand "how to bring those systems into NATO's defensive plans." He put Ukrainian UAV development cycles at roughly three to six months, down from one or two years. Today's counter-drone deals show the demand, though the equipment still flows into Ukraine. [MyDefence](https://www.battlepolicy.com/mydefence/) commercial director Ulrich Harde said the Danish company has supplied about 2,000 Wingman drone detectors to Ukrainian forces. Zelensky expects the first result of a counter-Shahed project with Kongsberg in one and a half to two months, without naming the technology. Detectors and drone-defence systems are plausible categories for pooled NSPA orders. No such tender has been announced. These deliveries mark the equipment Ukraine is buying now, and the benchmark its own manufacturers' offers will be judged against. The commercial change becomes visible when allied orders start paying Ukrainian suppliers through the agency. ## Kyiv's export costs Ukraine's export machinery is issuing approvals, but manufacturers dispute whether it offers a dependable route to sales. Export Control Commission head Davyd Aloian said 18 companies have been cleared to export finished weapons, with more than 400 applications processed and over 90% approved, according to the National Security and Defence Council. Those figures measure administrative activity, not completed deliveries or the cost of permission. Exports run under the April Drone Deals framework, which gives the Ministry of Defence and General Staff first claim on output. Oko Camera chief executive Denys Nikolayenko [told Breaking Defense](https://breakingdefense.com/2026/10/ukrainian-defense-firms-get-creative-to-try-and-break-through-export-restrictions/?ref=battlepolicy.com) that "there is currently no working export \[procedure\] for Ukrainian defense tech," with draft laws still pending, and that some producers are running below capacity because state contracts do not cover their output. His dual-use company exports with relative ease; pure military suppliers, he said, are "essentially stuck." Brave1 chief executive Andrii Hrytseniuk described a cost that lands before any sale: exporters must pay 20% of a prospective contract's value upfront, even if the deal falls through. An industry group representing more than 400 firms warned in September that a 20% to 30% fee on export permits was pricing Ukrainian goods out of foreign markets. Deviro chief technology officer Denys Chumachenko explained why that matters to a European buyer. Ukrainian products are not yet fully integrated into NATO and European battle-management systems. If export costs add 20% to 30% to the price, he argued, customers may choose a more expensive alternative that already carries integration and certification. None of the partnership announcements address Ukrainian export licensing. Under Resolution No. 875, adopted in July, the State Service for Export Control must still issue a licence, and the resolution "does not repeal the general export control procedures," according to the Ukrainian law firm Impact Law. NSPA registration opens the buyer's door; the exit permit is still issued in Kyiv. ## Ukrainian suppliers and European primes Equal tender access also puts Ukrainian firms against established competitors. Andrii Pakhushchyi of the state-owned Ukrainian Defense Industry called exports "a question of survival," citing capacity built earlier in the war that changing battlefield requirements have left underused. He argued Ukrainian companies should supply components and cooperate with European manufacturers rather than compete with them head on. Partnership paperwork has not yet solved that. A Phantom Defense spokesperson cited studies counting more than 180 international partnerships in Ukraine's defence industry, a share of them still at the memorandum-of-understanding stage. Tender awards would be a firmer measure. Other financing routes already exist. The EU Institute for Security Studies counts projects involving Ukraine in 15 of 19 national SAFE loan plans and points to Quantum Frontline Industries, a German-Ukrainian joint venture producing Ukrainian-designed drones in Germany. Under the Danish model, foreign governments pay Ukrainian firms to produce for Ukraine's forces. NSPA adds a standing agency that can pool several buyers' requirements into one order. Deputy Defence Minister Anna Gvozdiar put the aim plainly: "We want our partners to access this experience and these technologies." Alyona Getmanchuk, head of Ukraine's mission to NATO, called the deal an "important gateway into NATO's defense industrial ecosystem." Export costs and integration requirements will decide which Ukrainian firms walk through it. ## Tenders, permits and interceptors 1. **A Ukrainian contract award.** The first disclosed NSPA tender won by a Ukrainian manufacturer will show which products and buyer requirements the new access actually serves. 2. **Export costs and legislation.** A cut to the 20% upfront payment Hrytseniuk described, or passage of the pending export law, would show Kyiv reducing the cost manufacturers complain about. 3. **Air-defence coverage.** A disclosed interceptor purchase for Ukraine through NSPA would define the partnership's reach. Patriot procurement still runs through Pentagon approval. 4. **Pooled counter-drone orders.** Watch for an NSPA award covering Ukrainian detectors or interceptor drones for several buyers, with an export licence and delivery schedule attached.