Nearly UAH 1 billion has been allocated to scale up explosives production, a unique exhibition showcasing Ukraine's ammunition and firepower capabilities was held, and new grants and partnerships with global industry leaders were announced as part of the Brave1 Advantage event.
Six Ukrainian companies won the Brave1 grant competition aimed at expanding domestic explosives production. The total value of the projects amounts to UAH 944 million, including UAH 620 million in state co-financing. Under the agreements, the manufacturers will launch production of TNT, RDX, PETN, and plasticized C4-type explosives.
Ukrainian Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov noted that over the past three years Brave1 has become Europe's largest venture defense technology investor, awarding nearly 1,000 grants worth more than UAH 5.8 billion. The current priorities include battlefield robotics, low-cost AI-enabled cruise missiles, affordable Ukrainian radars for short-range air defense, and directed-energy weapons, including laser-based air defense systems that are already undergoing testing.
For the first time, Brave1 Advantage featured a large-scale exhibition of Ukraine's firepower capabilities, where more than 70 manufacturers of ammunition, explosives, and strike systems showcased their latest developments. A dedicated closed-access exhibition area also presented achievements of Ukraine's missile industry, including ballistic, cruise, and surface-to-air missiles, jet-powered drones, and Ukrainian-made guided aerial bombs (GABs).
Brave1 also unveiled an updated grant program featuring 53 new priority areas, including materials and components for missiles, swarm systems, autonomous drones, radar and navigation technologies, underwater drones and torpedoes, laser weapons and railguns, precision-guided munitions, electronic warfare systems against guided aerial bombs and missiles, and hyperspectral cameras. Grants range from UAH 500,000 to UAH 8 million depending on the maturity of the technology.
In addition, Brave1 launched a special grant program integrated with the international BraveTech EU initiative. Under this program, applicants can receive up to UAH 8 million regardless of the technology's development stage. The program covers more than 40 priority areas, including high-speed strike systems, automatic guidance modules, evacuation drones, hand-launched interceptor drones, exoskeletons, active protection systems (APS), lightweight torpedoes, electromagnetic pulse (EMP) munitions and generation systems, bunker-busting munitions, and hydrogen fuel cells.
A full list of the technology priorities is available at: https://grants.brave1.tech
