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For manufacturers & primes

Proving Ground

Independent test and evaluation (T&E) of defense systems in combat conditions in Ukraine — and the white paper to prove it. Put your product in front of the only battlefield that tells the truth, and walk away knowing exactly what to build next.

Apply to testEvery engagement under NDA.
$200M+
R&D burned when a system meets the battlefield too late
v2.0
The iteration primes come here to de-risk
NDA
Every evaluation, before anything is shared
The problem

Most systems are a product looking for a problem

Primes build for a threat they can't see. Procurement runs on politics as much as performance. And the biggest players are the least able to move when the battlefield shifts under them.

01

Built blind

A drone, counter-UAS or EW system is designed around what its makers imagine the fight looks like — not what operators actually face. Good on paper, already outdated in the field.

02

No honest feedback loop

Once a system ships abroad, its maker rarely learns how it really performed. The feedback that would shape the next version never makes it back.

03

Politics over performance

What NATO buys is often decided by politics, not by what works. Without ground truth, that gap gets baked into the next $50–100M of R&D.

Where we test

Two proving grounds, one report

We don't lean on a single setting. Your system goes through both the range and the fight — then gets measured against what's actually in the field.

01

The range

A dedicated proving range in the west of Ukraine, open to Ukrainian and allied systems. Controlled, repeatable conditions to stress a system before it ever meets the enemy.

02

The frontline

The same system in real combat conditions, against real threats, in the hands of the operators who depend on it — where the truth actually shows up.

Benchmarked against a live network of 130+ Ukrainian makers, not judged in isolation — so you know where your system really stands.

Why it matters

Before you put $100M into the next version, you want to know it won't go to waste.

Major programs have poured nine figures into systems that collapsed the moment they met a peer threat — a failure a single honest evaluation on the ground would have caught. Ground truth is the cheapest insurance in defense R&D. We hand you a crystal ball into where the battlefield is going, so your investment lands where it matters.

Test first. Scale second.
Discretion

Everything under NDA

Sources, systems and results stay need-to-know. Evaluations are anonymized and shared only with the parties who commission them.

Bring your system to the proving ground

Tell us what you want validated. We reply with next steps — under NDA.

Evidence beats a pitch. Prove it on the ground.

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