Recently I had a chance to play with a new weapon series from the Ukrainian state arms company Fort at the Kiev Arms & Security Fair. The 221 (left) and the general 22X series are modern bullpup designs which I instantly felt at home with...namely because I thought they were the Israeli Tavor TAR-21, until I inspected the stampings. Further investigations revealed that - in what for me was a jaw dropping surprise - the Ukrainians actually have licensed this design from IWI - as opposed to simply stealing it. The Israelis have provided both the training and the CNC machinery to Fort identical to that in Israel, and it shows: I could not fault the plastic or the stampings in terms of fit/finish, and a brief later test of the 221 revealed the same smooth function and superb balance as the Israeli original.A very pleasant change from my last experience with the indigenous Vepr (above right), a prime example what happens when you try to push an old, proven design too far. The Vepr was supposed to be Ukraine's new standard assault rifle...and essentially, it was a bullpup version of the AK-74. The AK series is a proven, robust system that offers solid reliability in standard configuration, but trying to re-engineer it into a bullpup configuration is just asking for trouble: I tested one back on a quick visit in early 2006 and only fired 21 rounds through it. Failure to eject happened 4 times, recoil and muzzle jump was far more than acceptable for a bullpup and the heat buildup was a worry. In short, another member of the large global club of unsuccessful military projects.
The Vepr has now been shelved (I imagine someone didn't offer a sufficient kickback): a sad indictment for Ukrainian mechanical engineering, but hopefully good news for Ukrainian security forces.
I just hope it's not good news for the Ukrainian mafia, who seemed to be out in force at the show. Ukrainians may not be good at designing state of the art small arms, but they seem to be very adept at selling them to all and sundry...
