Production of BTR-4 At Risk: Government Fails to Sign New Contract

The O.O. Morozov Kharkiv Machine-Building Design Bureau (KBM) is facing the threat of a complete shutdown due to a lack of new government orders.

Employees and management of the relocated enterprise shared the critical situation regarding funding and orders in a report by Fakty ICTV.

According to the staff, the production lines are currently manufacturing the last active government order for the BTR-4E. Due to the lack of new contracts, fears are growing among the plant’s workers that vehicle production could come to a complete halt as early as August, and that specialists will begin to be laid off.

At the same time, Stanislav Stepanov, the plant’s deputy director, reported that a potential major contract for armored vehicles has not yet received the necessary funding.

According to management, a large number of finished components are currently stored in the warehouses of the Kharkiv Design Bureau of Mechanical Engineering (KBM) and partner plants.

The available quantity of parts is sufficient for producing 100 to 200 new armored personnel carriers.

The plant is capable of manufacturing up to 20 BTR-4E units per month. Furthermore, with stable order flow, the plant has the capacity to increase production volumes further.

Orders for armored vehicles in 2026

Since the beginning of the year, the Ministry of Defense has not contracted for new batches of armored vehicles, although the first few months determine the supply volumes for the entire year of 2026.

Arsen Zhumadilov, director of the Ministry of Defense’s Defense Procurement Agency, confirmed the absence of orders for armored vehicles this year, noting that armored vehicles continue to be delivered to the military under contracts from last year.

New orders will be placed only after the General Staff provides the necessary information on armored vehicle requirements, but this is not expected until the second half of the year.

The traditional period for concluding contracts to supply armored vehicles ends in March, allowing manufacturers to deliver products over the next 9–12 months. An atypical six-month pause in orders creates the risk of a significant slowdown in the pace of equipment delivery.

Representatives of Inguar, Ukrainian Armored Vehicles, UkrArmoTech, and other specialized companies also confirmed the suspension of new orders to Militarnyi.