Will Western defence companies test their weapons in Russia-Ukraine war?

Amid reports that Ukraine is willing to allow foreign defence firms to test their latest weapon systems on the frontlines of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, a Russian military expert believes that weapon makers are likely to take up this proposal.

 

According to Reuters, Ukraine's state-backed arms investment and procurement group Brave1 said arms companies can send their weapon systems to Ukraine, give the soldiers online training on how to deploy them and then the Ukrainian forces can use them in the battlefield and send back reports.

 

"It gives us an understanding of what technologies are available. It gives companies understanding of what is really working on the front line," Reuters quoted Artem Moroz, Brave1's head of investor relations, as saying.

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According to Moroz, there has been strong interest in the proposal.

 

Mikhail Khodarenok, a Russian military expert, told news agency TASS that there is a high probability that Western defence companies will respond to this proposal by Ukraine. 

 

"Because when weapons are developed, first of all operational requirements are developed, i.e. what the army wants from industry. After that, the industry develops a prototype and a series of trials follows. After official tests, the defence ministry makes a decision on bringing the weapon into service and organising mass production," he said, and observed that the most important trial for any weapon is a war.

 

He pointed out that conducting mock-up actual battlefield conditions and weapon systems that were tested in peacetime and inducted into service may not turn out to be as effective as anticipated when it comes to actual war.

Defence