The Ukrainian defense industry is increasingly discussing the creation of its own analogue to the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). In an interview with RBC-Ukraine, Igor Fedirko, Executive Director of the Ukrainian Council of Weapon Makers, stated that the Council conducted extensive research to model such an institution within the Ukrainian context, involving a large group of specialists. Anthony Tether, the former head of the US DARPA who led the institute for nearly eight years, served as a consultant for the project. According to Fedirko, the outcome of this work suggests that the Brave1 cluster could become the first step — a "DARPA on a minimal budget" — on the path to a full-fledged Ukrainian advanced defense research agency.
Legal barrier: why the right to fail doesn't work
According to Fedirko, the key barrier is not a lack of competence or funding, but Ukraine's legal system itself. In the US, DARPA operates with massive funds while maintaining minimal administrative and financial liability: if a team receives a grant but fails to achieve the expected results, they are not prosecuted. This "legal umbrella" mechanism allows for the financing of risky but potentially breakthrough developments. In Ukrainian legislation, as noted by the Executive Director of the Council of Weapon Makers, there is no such right to fail, making a direct copy of the American model impossible and forcing the search for alternative, phased formats.
Brave1 as "DARPA on a minimal budget"
Fedirko emphasized that Ukraine currently has no other technological institution that simultaneously possesses the right to grant funding, its own schools, and educational programs. He links this uniqueness to the potential of Brave1. In his assessment, the cluster has long outgrown the format of an accelerator, which it continues to be called "out of habit," and the emergence of Brave1 became, in his words, the best thing to happen to the Ukrainian defense technology sector. Thus, Brave1 is viewed not as a final goal, but as the first, foundational step for a future advanced research institute.
Technological developments: Demo Day and manufacturers
The cluster also demonstrates its own results: during the first online Brave1 Demo Day, more than ten categories of new technologies for the "Defense Forces" were presented, and over fifty manufacturers showcased spare parts and new solutions for the front line. These figures are used in the industry as an argument that the infrastructure for testing and scaling defense developments already exists and can serve as the basis for a more ambitious DARPA-style model.
Connection to the tender reform crisis
The idea of transforming Brave1 into a DARPA analogue, according to RBC-Ukraine sources in the defense industry, has been discussed previously: this option is considered one of the ways out of the crisis caused by the tender reform, which could threaten weapon supplies to the front within a few months. Thus, the discussion about creating a Ukrainian analogue of DARPA through Brave1 is directly linked to the practical problem of supplying the front with weapons and the attempt to establish a sustainable mechanism for financing defense R&D.
