Tag: RPC Fort

Ukraine’s FORT 230 Submachine Gun

The FORT-230 is Ukraine’s 9x19mm submachine gun. Since the start of 2025 these compact personal defence weapons have been seen more and more frequently. The FORT-230 was developed by RPC Fort for military and law enforcement use with development beginning long before Russia’s February 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

The FORT-230 first emerged in 2021 when it was showcased as the Arms and Security exposition held in Kyiv. FORT or the Science Industrial Association of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine, is Ukraine’s state-owned small arms manufacturer.

Data sheet for the 230, c.2021 (RPC FORT)

According to data from FORT the new 9mm submachine gun is a select-fire, blowback operated weapon which feed from 20 or 30 round proprietary magazines. It has a reported weight of 2.5kg (5.5lbs), a 190mm (7.5in) barrel and an overall length of 400mm (15.7in) (with the stock collapsed) and 600mm (23.6in) with the three-position stock fully deployed. It also had a folding front grip. The weapon’s controls are ambidextrous and has a non-reciprocating, reversible charging handle and it has a stated rate of fire of around 800 rounds per minute.

Ukraine intends to use the FORT-230 to arm some of the personnel currently issued AKS-74 and AKS-74u. These rifles are no longer in production and while Ukraine has large pre-war stocks of small arms dating to the Soviet era these stocks are finite and as the war continues the attrition rate of small arms means new weapons are needed. At 2.5kg (5.5lbs) the FORT-230 is around 500g and 1kg lighter than the AKS-74u and AKS-74 respectively while also being a smaller, more ergonomic package. The selection of a submachine gun chambered in a pistol calibre cartridge does, however, mean a sacrifice in ballistics compared to the 5.45x39mm chambered rifles.

In a video with my friend James Reeves from TFBtv, filmed at IWA 2025, FORT noted that the guns are in service with the Ukrainian national police (including the Kord special operations team), the Ukrainian National Guard and the Ukrainian militaries armoured units.

Combatant from 12th ‘Azov’ Brigade examining FORT-230 (via social media)

The first image to surface of one of the FORT-230s dates from early in the war when a photo of one of the guns, with a FORT-produced suppressor, was shared. This example has well worn finish and a 30 round magazine. The next sighting of one of the guns came in mid-November 2023 with some footage of one of the guns being fired at a range.

It wasn’t until late 2024 and early 2025 that the submachine guns began to appear with troops from various different units suggesting that larger scale production of the guns had begun. In January 2025, members of the 12th Special Forces Brigade “Azov” appeared in range photos with a FORT-230.

On 2 February another Ukrainian combatant shared a photo featuring a pair of FORT-230s, the location and unit the individuals belong to is unclear. Around the same time a salvage team with Ukrainian National Guard’s 13th Khartiia Brigade were also confirmed to be equipped with the guns.

Artillerymen of 13th Khartiia Brigade Brigade with new FORT-230s (via the brigade’s social media)

In mid-February combatants from the Ukrainian Army’s 3rd Assault Brigade shared videos from range sessions training with new FORT-230s. The clips show the weapons rate of fire and reloading drills. An individual, who may be a combat medic with the 3rd Assault Brigade, also shared several photos of the weapon disassembled giving a good look at the FORT-230s component parts.

On 4 March, the 3011 Unit of the National Guard shared a photograph of an individual posing with a FORT-230. In late March, the 13th Khartiia Brigade also shared photos of a 2S1 self-propelled howitzer crew equipped with brand new FORT-230s.

On the 19 April the same combatant, who may be a member of 3rd Assault Brigade, shared an additional photo of a FORT-230 now painted up in a camouflage scheme.

A painted FORT-230 (via social media)

While it may seem like a step backwards to adopt a 9mm submachine gun as a personal defence weapon in 2025, there is some logic to the selection. The FORT-230 is a locally designed and manufactured weapon system which can be easily put into production and as a personal defence weapon its small size and more compact and ergonomic form factor, compared to AK-patterned carbines, makes sense for air crews, tank crews, gunners, medics and drone operators who don’t immediately need a rifle-calibre weapon. While this argument has its roots in some of the original reasoning behind why the submachine gun rose to prominence with many armies during the later-half of the 20th century it can also be noted that small arms design has advanced and there are rifle-calibre personal defence weapons with similar formfactors and weights now available. The FORT-230, however, is expedient for Ukraine and is probably more than sufficient for many of those likely to be issued them. The FORT-230 may be the last submachine gun to see widespread issue and use during wartime.

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Ukrainian Tavors – Fort-221 / Fort-224

In this video/article we’ll examine Ukraine’s other bullpup – the Fort-221 – the Ukrainian Tavor. 

In a recent video/article we looked at the Ukrainian designed and produced IPI Vulcan, a bullpup based on the AK platform, and the two have been confused in some media. The Fort-22 series Tavors originate from Israel’s IWI. Introduced in the early 2000s the IWI Tavor has been purchased and seen service with militaries around the world. Ukraine’s Tavors were offered by RPC Fort or State Research and Production Association “Fort” of the Ukrainian Ministry of Internal Affairs. The company was originally established in 1991, initially as a regional organisation and in 1998 it became a state enterprise. Located in Vinnytsia, in western Ukraine, the company initially focused on a line of pistols, pump-action shotguns and AKM variants.  

National Guard personnel armed with Fort-221 with M5 optics (Ukrainian National Guard)

From a survey of Fort’s website we know that IWI weapons first began to appear in the company’s product lists in late 2008 following an agreement to potentially license manufacture IWI products in Ukraine. This included pistols, submachine guns, rifles and the Negev light machine gun. 

In 2011-12 media reports suggested the Tavor was being produced in Ukraine and the guns appeared at a number of trade shows with RPC-Fort markings, including a company crest in the moulded stock. There is, however, some doubt about whether the weapons were manufactured in Ukraine, merely assembled or if they were produced in Israel with some Fort markings and shipped to Ukraine. The nature of the partnership is undisclosed but it has been suggested that if Fort gained substantial sales for the weapons then further manufacturer may have been transferred to Ukraine. 

Close up of the RPC Fort on a 5.56×45mm Fort-221 (Ukrainian National Guard)

In 2014, Colonel Vitaly Otamaniuk, the head of the artillery and missile management board of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, announced that the Fort-221 and Fort-223/224 carbines were adopted for arming the Ukrainian army, with an initial 500 ordered. While no further orders were publicly recorded we know that Police and internal security forces were issued the rifle as of 2016. The adoption of the rifles by Ministry of Internal Affairs units and the Ukrainian National Guard (which falls under the Ministry’s control) may be explained by the fact the Ministry owns RPC Fort.

Various Fort-22 series rifles on display (Ukrainian National Guard)

From photographs released before the February invasion we know that National Guard units including the Special Purpose units like the “Scorpion” Special Forces Detachment (Nuclear industry protection) and elements of the Special Operations Forces or SSO. These units are believed to include the 1st and 3rd Special Purpose Detachments based in Kyiv and the 8th Special Purpose Regiment in Khmelnytskyi as well as elements of the Ukrainian Ministry of Internal Affairs.

Member of the Ukrainian armed forces with a Fort-224 carbine (via social media)

There is some confusion around the Fort-22 series’ designations. From Fort’s website, circa 2020, we can see here that the majority of the IWI rifle range was on offer. There is some confusion around the designations with Fort-222 and Fort-223 not being listed here but there are photographs of Fort-223 marked 5.56  X-95 pattern guns seen trade shows, which suggests that for a time at least the 223 designation was used. But as we’ve seen from Fort’s 2010 website Fort-223s were not listed. The Tavors are listed as follows:

  • Fort-221 in 5.56x45mm and 5.45x39mm (TAR-21) – 468mm / 18.4in
  • Fort-224 in 5.56×45 and 5.45x39mm (X-95) – 330mm / 13in
  • Fort-224 in 9×19 (X-95 SMG) – 330mm / 13in

We can also see that the Uzi Pro is listed as the Fort-226 while the 5.56x45mm Galil Ace is listed as the Fort-227, the 7.62x39mm chambered version is the Fort-228 and the 7.62x51mm version is the Fort-229. The Ukrainians designed the Galatz accurised Galil the Fort-301 and the Negev light machine gun the Fort-401 both of which have been fleetingly seen in the field.

Further survey of Fort’s website shows that the Tavor series of rifles ceased to be listed on the page in March 2021 and IWI and Meprolight were removed from the site’s ‘Partners’ section in April 2021. Perhaps suggesting the end of the IWI-Fort partnership. The Tavor-pattern rifles are not listed by SpetsTechnoExport, Ukraine’s state export enterprise, but the IPI Vulcan is.

Member of the Ukrainian armed forces with a Fort-221 rifle (via social media)

Despite this we have seen a considerable number of the Ukrainian Tavor variants in the field. Since the Russian invasion in February the Fort-22 series have been most frequently seen with internal security forces and Ukrainian Army and National Guard special forces.

Within 48  hours of the Russian offensive Russian forces shared videos from what was said to be a captured Ukrainian National Guard depot. The video shows more than a dozen Fort-221s piled on top of crates. Around the same time they were seen to be equipping Ukrainian forces said to be linked to the Azov Brigade. 

Members of the Ukrainian armed forces with a Fort-224 carbines (via social media)

On 7 March former Ukrainian presidents Petro Porochenko and Oleksandr Turchynov were seen. Rallying Territorial Defence Force units in Kyiv, Turchynov was seen armed with a Fort-221.

On 9 March an unknown number were captured by Russian forces which seized the National Guard armoury near the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Plant. At least one Fort-221 was shown by Russian state media.

A Fort-224 in 9×19mm (via social media)

The Ukrainian Tavors continue to surface in imagery from the conflict but it is difficult to tell where they’re being used and by which units. 

Both the Fort-221 rifle and the 224 carbine have been seen in the field, though it is often difficult to determine their chambering as the clearest indiction – the shape of the magazine – is invariably tucked under the user’s arm.  They are most often seen equipped with Meprolight M5 and M21 sights and a number of the weapons have also been seen to be sporting camouflage paint jobs.  

Thank you to those who have helped me collect images of the Ukrainian Tavors in the field, including Sad_Sand and DixieMauser and thank you also to Remigiusz Wilk.

Update – 21/6/24:

My colleague Ian over at Forgotten Weapons has shared a video which gives us a great close up of a Ukrainian Fort 221.

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Bibliography

Interpolitex 2011, Vitaly Kuzmin, (source)

Ukraine Manufacturing Tavor in 5.45x39mm, TFB, (source)

Shield and Sword of Ukraine: Main Achievements of thr Defense Industrial Complex for 2017, Defense Express, (source)

Fort.vn.ua, via WayBack Machine, (source)

Kyiv Police being introduced to 9x19mm Fort-224 carbines in 2016, Kyiv Police, (source)