The crew of the Khartiya Brigade was equipped with 9-mm Fort-230 submachine guns of domestic production.

The press service of the 13th National Guard of Ukraine Brigade published the photos of the equipment.

The artillery personnel of the 2S1 Gvozdika self-propelled howitzer received compact submachine guns instead of AKS-74 assault rifles with folding stocks.

The photo shows that the small size and weight of personal firearms play an important role in the crew’s work in the cramped space of a Soviet artillery system.

The Fort Research and Production Company has been mass-producing the Fort-230 for about two years by order of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Armed Forces of Ukraine. However, these are most likely small series, as until recently, the weapon rarely appeared in photos.

The Fort-230 is a submachine gun designed for the standard 9×19 mm cartridge. Its automation is based on using the recoil energy of a free bolt.

“During its creation, the experience of the latest samples of this type of weapon was taken into account, which ensured extremely reliable operation of the product’s automation even under very heavy contamination (dense swamp, snow, sand, water),” Mykola Hlyvyy, Fort’s chief designer, shared this with Militarnyi.

The weapon’s design prioritizes maximum reduction in dimensions, achieved by removing ammunition through double-row magazines for 23 or 30 rounds via a shaft in the handle. Additionally, it features a folding telescopic butt and a folding fire transfer handle. Its weight is only 2.5 kilograms.

The weapon receiver is equipped with a large Picatinny rail for mounting sighting devices. There is also a thread on the barrel section for installing a flame arrester or silencer.

The Fort-230 design is ambidextrous, allowing it to be used equally comfortably with both hands. For adjustment, the cocking lever can be repositioned to the other side, and all necessary controls are duplicated on both sides.

The trigger mechanism is dual-mode, offering single shots or fully automatic firing. The rate of fire reaches 800 rounds per minute.

At the same time, the Ukrainian industry is gradually switching to the production of Czech CZ Bren 2 assault rifles, the production rate of which reached 400 units per month this month. Read more about the development of this production here.