MoD Competence Centers are Staffed Only to One-Tenth: Personnel Shortage Threatens to Disrupt Weapons Supplies

Ihor Fedirko, Executive Director of the Ukrainian Council of Weapon Manufacturers, revealed the scale of the personnel crisis in the defense sector in an interview with RBC-Ukraine: the competence centers of the Ministry of Defense, tasked with developing tactical and technical characteristics (TTC) for state tenders, are staffed to only about one-tenth of their authorized headcount. According to him, the staffing plan provides for about a hundred employees, while in fact only about a dozen people are working there. This means that the key mechanism, which should ensure the army with quality and timely procurement, is practically non-functional.

One-tenth of the staff: where to look for specialists

Fedirko emphasized that the problem is not quantitative but qualitative in nature: the defense industry needs not bureaucrats, but engineers and specialists capable of aggregating technical information and preparing quality reports for tenders. He noted that over the years of the war, the army — often at the initiative of the soldiers themselves — has taken a significant number of talented engineers, who are now at positions. At the same time, according to the interlocutor, Ukraine still lacks a full description of the actual "passport" of the army, that is, reliable data on exactly which specialists and in what quantity are currently serving in the troops.

The army "passport" and the idea with AWOL: searching for personnel

Fedirko is convinced that among the military personnel there is a significant number of quality engineers and IT specialists, and if it is possible to regulate the issue of unauthorized absence from the unit (AWOL), some of them would be willing to switch to working with technologies in the Ministry of Defense. In the industry, according to him, there is an idea to gather a group of about ten thousand people in AWOL and direct them to work in the defense industry; there are companies ready to implement this. However, Fedirko warns that here a balance is necessary, and it is extremely difficult to attract specialists directly from the active army.

Contradictory data

Versions about the state of defense procurement in the industry differ. On the one hand, according to RBC-Ukraine sources in the industry, a delay in developing TTC due to the understaffing of competence centers could leave the army without weapons in just a few months, which indicates a disruption of the tender reform. On the other hand, the state is simultaneously increasing certain procurement directions: in the first half of 2026, volumes in these segments, according to available information, doubled compared to the previous year. Thus, the picture turns out to be contradictory: against the backdrop of statements about an impending shortage of weapons, an increase in spending on a number of items is recorded, which indicates the unevenness and fragmentation of the procurement process.

Risks for the front and expectations from new leadership

Fedirko noted that with the arrival of the new Commander-in-Chief, there is a feeling of improvement in the work of the Ministry of Defense, and expressed hope that the competence centers will eventually be launched and staffed. The personnel problem is directly related to the disruption of the tender reform: it is precisely the inability to develop TTC in a timely manner that creates a risk that in a few months the front will face a shortage of weapons. The expert assessment boils down to the fact that without the urgent attraction of engineers and the establishment of order in the personnel accounting of the army, the defense industry will not be able to ensure sustainable supplies, despite the growth of certain procurement directions.