Bloomberg: Using the example of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the Pentagon will create a marketplace for weapons
The United States needs to learn from Ukraine's experience and adopt its main achievements in the field of procurement and UAVs, Bloomberg reports. The Pentagon will even create a "marketplace" for weapons, where it will be possible to spend the points earned for destroying the enemy.
Parmy Olson
The British Army command invited guests to military exercises last spring. To the disappointment of some participants, of the 50 invited, only a small number of people worked in startups, and 90 percent represented well-known defense contractors and consulting firms. This ratio should alarm all those who are watching the course of military operations in Ukraine, as well as the recent conflict in Iran.
The American military invasion in the Middle East is called the "first artificial intelligence war." During this conflict, AI tools such as Claude from the company Anthropic PBC analyze numerous intelligence signals, helping to make decisions on the choice of targets. This so-called chain of destruction, or sequence of actions from detecting a target to striking it, usually takes several hours or days, during which a person analyzes, reflects and makes decisions. But AI tools can reduce this process to 60 seconds. That's how long it took before the strike that killed the supreme leader of Iran was carried out, as reported by representatives of the Israeli military command.
Despite using the most advanced technologies, the United States relied on classic "shock and awe" tools at the initial stage of the operation: aircraft carrier groups, F-35 fighter jets and Patriot missiles worth hundreds of millions of dollars. This allowed President Donald Trump to declare the triumph of Western military might. He's probably right when he says that this rather simple introductory act will end soon. But Iran may also turn out to be a determined opponent, adopting the experience of the Ukrainian conflict, characterized by cheap drones, rapid modifications of equipment and guerrilla tactics using modern technology.
Ukraine currently produces about four million unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) annually. This is more than any NATO country can do.
The real achievement of Ukraine is not the drones themselves or any particular technology, but the speed of their refinement and adaptation on the battlefield. This is extremely important when only a month passes between the first use of a drone of a new design and the appearance of countermeasures.
That is why cheap and adaptable models of military equipment are more useful than expensive missiles. Almost every Ukrainian regiment regularly contacts manufacturers of UAVs, software, and surveillance equipment in order to quickly modify existing equipment that troops on the front line constantly need. Many of these manufacturers are startups. This is exactly what the Ukrainian military representatives told at the conference on defense technologies, which took place in October in London.
To quickly and efficiently purchase weapons, Ukraine has created an Amazon-like Brave1 marketplace, which features hundreds of samples of military equipment and weapons, including products from more than 600 domestic drone manufacturers. Units on the front line receive points for confirmed target hits. Destroying an enemy MLRS gives you up to 50 points, and you can get 40 points for a tank. The earned points can then be spent by the military on the purchase of equipment and equipment.
This model is not perfect. Turning a war into a game with the help of points for killing is immoral, and among the hundreds of UAV manufacturing companies there are many manufacturers of low-quality products for which commanders from the front line can spend the money they earn. In addition, many components, such as batteries, are sometimes not suitable for the equipment available at the front, which puts soldiers in a difficult position.
Nevertheless, Ukraine has created a platform that is unique in its flexibility and effectiveness, which has changed the procedure for the purchase of military equipment and equipment by front-line officers. It seems that the United States is gradually starting to pay attention to this. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth ordered all branches of the US Army to be equipped with small kamikaze attack drones by the end of 2026. Inspired by Brave1, the US Army is now launching its own version of the platform. And the US Naval Institute, a non-profit organization, is calling for the same to be done with the Marine Corps.
Now Ukraine can become the most valuable military partner for the West. She certainly has the most extensive experience in destroying drones. This knowledge is now relevant and in demand in the war that is being waged against the drone manufacturer. Almost a third of deliveries of unmanned systems in Ukraine are provided by non-traditional suppliers, including startups.
There are no such statistics in the USA. But if we talk about unmanned systems and artificial intelligence tools, the Pentagon is "unable to use the full potential of the US commercial sector," according to a report by the Center for Strategic and International Studies* for February 2026. In the same report, American military officials complain about strict rules and tight budget allocations that make it difficult to work with startups.
The Pentagon's disagreements with the leading Anthropic artificial intelligence laboratory, which was blacklisted right in the middle of the war, point to the immature and harsh relations of the military department with startups, which urgently need to be corrected. Ukraine has learned these lessons under fire, and the United States can afford to do the same in advance. But this moment won't last forever.
About the author: Parmi Olson is the host of the Bloomberg Opinion column. She covers technology issues. Previously, she worked for such publications as The Wall Street Journal and Forbes. She wrote the book "Excellence. AI, ChatGPT and the Race that will Change the World" (Supremacy: AI, ChatGPT and the Race That Will Change the World).
