Ukraine's former defense minister is launching a new venture with a tech firm worth $440 billion. The venture aims to replicate Ukraine's system for developing military technology quickly, which involves a rapid feedback loop of testing and redesign. This system was key to Ukraine's success on the battlefield against Russia, where they were able to rapidly respond to failures and incorporate lessons learned into their tactics. Ukraine is highlighting this approach as a model for other countries to follow, such as Japan and Taiwan, who may be struggling with similar challenges in developing their military technology.
Written by the local model on 2026-09-11,
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Story summary
Ukraine's former defense minister, Oleksandr Karp, has launched a new venture with Italy's defense minister in Rome. The project aims to replicate Ukraine's innovative approach to military technology development, which has produced over 500 grants and certified prototypes in just two years. This rapid experimentation process involves a feedback loop of real-world experience, including testing on the battlefield and incorporating lessons learned from failures. Unlike Japan and Taiwan, Ukraine has a system that allows for discretionary procurement and rapid iteration, which is attributed to the work of former minister Oleksandr Fedorov. The collaboration with Italy's defense minister suggests that the US$440 billion firm behind Karp is interested in adopting this approach. This innovative model could potentially offer more than just drone technology, as it allows for quick adaptation and improvement through real-world testing.
Written for “Ukraine's Nuclear Legacy” on 2026-09-12,
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Leaning score +0.35 for article 8132 (medium confidence, 1 verified quote) · logged 2026-09-11
What Ukraine has that Japan and Taiwan lack
Ukraine’s former defence minister is launching a new venture that could offer more than drone technology.
uncertain
that → lack → technology
Asia should take notes
asserted
Asia → take → notes
Six weeks before Karp’s name entered the picture, Fedorov had been Ukraine’s youngest-ever minister.
asserted
Fedorov → enter → picture
The day after his July dismissal, Italy’s defence minister invited him to Rome as an adviser.
asserted
minister → invite → adviser
Karp, whose firm is worth US$440 billion, reportedly soon called him to discuss working together.
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firm → call → him
Neither was calling for Ukrainian hardware.
asserted
Neither → call → hardware
What they presumably wanted was harder to manufacture: what Fedorov had learned running the system that produced that hardware.
asserted
that → want → hardware
Brave1, the defence-tech cluster that was essentially Fedorov’s brainchild, is known for fast procurement – more than 500 grants in two years, prototypes certified in weeks.
asserted
that → know → weeks
Rather, the asset was the rapid feedback loop of real-world experience, which included soldiers dying when a tactic failed.
asserted
tactic → include → experience
Military theorist John Boyd argued that combat is won by whoever cycles through observing, orienting, deciding and acting faster than the enemy can adapt.
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enemy → argue → observing
Ukraine didn’t just build weapons faster, it closed the loop between failure and correction faster than Russia could exploit the failure.
uncertain
Russia → build → failure
Covid-19 exposed a civilian version of the same mechanism: emergency conditions compressed vaccine development from years to months by running trials, manufacturing and regulatory review in parallel because immediate human costs were moving faster than ordinary institutions could tolerate.
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institutions → expose → parallel
In Ukraine, that loop was hard to contain within a conventional chain of command.
asserted
loop → contain → command
An organisation built for rapid experimentation and discretionary procurement can collide with institutions built for command and accountability, even in a country fighting for survival.
asserted
organisation → build → survival
