The Ukrainian military has spent a total of nearly Hr 600 million ($21.7 million) on an automated command and control system that eventually ended up being designated potentially unusable, according to Bihus.Info, an investigative journalism project.
According to the project’s author Lesya Ivanova, an audit inquiry by the Security Service of Ukraine, or SBU, revealed “so many bugs and problems that its inception in the army can be impractical and impossible.”
The project Dzvin (“bell toll”) was initially launched in 2016, with Everest Limited, a Kyiv-based hardware retail company with no experience in software development, winning the contract. The program was supposed to be the central component of a NATO-compatible, universal, interactive, and highly-protected instrument of handling and communications of Ukrainian combat formations on the battlefield.
“At the end of the day, the Everest was supposed to complete two main tasks: to develop special military software and equip several command units with hardware the this soft would work with.”
Over four years of work, estimated costs had constantly been skyrocketing due to constant amendments in the project plan. One of the 12 alternatives cost an additional Hr 112 million, which is some 20% of the whole project value. Besides, at some point, the Defense Ministry officials decided to increase the number of command and control units from 3 to 12, which cost another Hr 255 million.
Eventually, in 2020, the SBU launched the project’s examination, which concluded that “the software does not meet its initial requirements, therefore its operation might end up unreasonable, while the procurement of as many as 12 units was not substantiated, so the spending of Hr 255 million could be excessive,” as Ivanova said.
In particular, the SBU argued that the software did not correspond NATO specifications and is barely compatible with other Ukrainian Armed Forces command and control software. Besides, its interactive electronic map service does not provide an operation with battlefield situational awareness, which is a critical feature, and has a lame system of classified data exchange between various levels of command.
Moreover, part of the project is licensed third-party software purchased for Hr 15 million but not used in the system, or not software that never passed special security tests.
The project was meant to be completed in October, but military software operators testing the Dzvin refused to give it the green light due to overwhelming bugs, according to Bihus.Info.
The company continues a legal battle demanding the Armed Forces accept the program.
According to Ivanova, the General Staff of the Armed Forces ignored a request in the issue, while the Defense Ministry declined to comment due to ongoing criminal inquiry run by the State Investigation Buerau.
“As for the Everest, the company’s director Volodymyr Pastukhov… eventually sent a written response, generally saying that all the information on the system’s flaws is not true,” Ivanova said.
“He refused the talk about the Dzvin in details.”
Editor’s Note: This report is part of the Investigative Hub project, within which the Kyiv Post monitors investigative reports in the Ukrainian media and brings them to the English-speaking audience, as well as produces original investigative stories. The project is supported by the National Endowment for Democracy.
