The Soviet Kalashnikov assault rifle, in various modifications, remained the main assault rifle in the Ukrainian army for many years, becoming an integral part of the image of a serviceman – first in the war for eastern Ukraine, and later during the full-scale Russian invasion.
However, decades of war have deeply depleted even the rich Soviet reserves of Kalashnikovs, and military aid from partners has flooded the army with Western weapons.
The "zoo" of various rifles and the depletion of Kalashnikov assault rifles have set the state the task of finding a single rifle to serve as the infantryman's primary weapon. In this article, we will find out where the Ukrainian Vulcan assault rifles have gone, what is wrong with the Polish GROT and Czech BREN 2, as well as the prospects for domestic copies of the American AR-15.
The first step in choosing a new rifle is to determine what it should be. The most important of these is the caliber - the focus on NATO standards made it inevitable to convert to a weapon chambered for 5.56×45 mm.
The terms of supply of new assault rifles are also important. When a country wants to purchase tens or hundreds of thousands of small arms, it always pays attention to their cost and the possibility of production at local factories. Ideally, this should be completely Ukrainian production, not limited by the licensing conditions of foreign companies.
New weapons must meet modern technical requirements, but in addition to basic tabular parameters, reliability and ease of use are also important. The importance of the latter is emphasized by shooting instructors who train fighters for the National Guard and the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
"I am currently working with infantry, ordinary men over the age of 45. In my deep conviction, the best weapon for them is the Kalashnikov assault rifle because of its simplicity. And even then, they cannot always cope with it. If they replace their AKMs with any Western model, the combat capability of the unit will go from near zero to simply negative," one of the instructors told Defense.
"Volcano"
Kalashnikov assault rifles were never produced in Ukraine, but the Ukrainian "Vulcan" rifle from the InterProInvest company, which is based on the same design, could be considered a domestic alternative.
It got its futuristic look thanks to the bullpup layout with the trigger mechanism and magazine located in the buttstock behind the trigger, which made the Vulcan more compact and convenient. However, "under the hood" it remained the same AK-74.
The significant similarity of both models is eloquently demonstrated by the fact that the first "Vulcans" were manufactured by converting new AK-74 assault rifles. At one time, this even gave rise to a dubious image of the assault rifle as a hopeless weapon. However, the developers assure that this story is long in the past.
"Currently, our company is capable of manufacturing the Vulcan without using ready-made components. Some elements, such as barrel blanks and the receiver, are ordered abroad. Previously, we cooperated with Korea," InterProInvest representatives said in a conversation with Defense.
The company offers three versions of the machine gun in Soviet and Western calibers. By 2022, it had managed to supply a significant number of samples chambered for 5.45×39 mm to the Special Operations Forces and reconnaissance units of the Ground Forces, where they were valued for their reliability and comfort.
Meeting the needs of a small number of units also determined production capacity - annual output reached no more than a few thousand units per year.
Today, their serial production has been suspended. The main reasons for the stoppage, according to company sources, are shelling, destruction of logistics chains, and the lack of government orders due to the flooding of the army's "zoo" with various models of Western weapons.
UAR-15
There is another view in Ukraine on what the future assault rifle of the Ukrainian infantryman should be like.
"Oboronka" spoke with the head of a Ukrainian private company that supplies the Ukrainian Defense Forces with UAR-15 assault rifles. He assures that its design is dozens of times simpler to manufacture than a Kalashnikov assault rifle. The reason lies in the materials: the rifle is mostly made of aluminum, which is much easier to process than steel. In particular, the receiver and forend are made of it.
The UAR-15 is based on the AR-15 rifle, developed by American designer Eugene Stoner, which became the prototype for a number of models, including the American Colt M4 and M16 assault rifles. All of them have a single structural base, which is called the AR platform.
"I believe that at this stage, Ukraine should move towards the AR platform. It is already well developed, we can quickly master it. There is a ready-made technological process and components, and the platform is modern and convenient," says the head of the enterprise.
It emphasizes the key advantage - technological maturity and simplicity of design, time-tested reliability and a wide market for spare parts and modifications. Unlike recently created European systems (such as GROT or BREN 2), the AR-15 has no patent restrictions, so it can be produced without paying royalties and outside control.
For more than 10 years, the company has almost completely localized its production in Ukraine. The receiver, bolt group, gas block, trigger mechanism, and magazines are manufactured in-house. The only component that has not yet been mastered is the rifled barrel, which is currently supplied by several American companies.
The beginning of the Russian invasion in 2022 hit the company hard, forcing it to evacuate production to a safer region and deploy it in a new location.
Moreover, due to the political situation, for many years no country wanted to sell equipment for the production of weapons to a warring country. However, with the full-scale invasion, this "iron wall" was broken through and the company managed to acquire high-tech machines for the production of barrels. First, using the mandrel technology (a method of forming rifling inside the barrel bore). Later, using the forging method, which is considered technologically more accurate and allows forming rifling in the workpiece together with the chamber during one cycle of operations.
Today, the company is loaded with orders and is preparing to launch a barrel production line. According to the company's manager, it should be expected as early as next year.
For its rifle, the company has also established licensed production of the 40mm M203 underbarrel grenade launcher. Currently, the main elements — in particular the barrel — are imported, but in the future the company plans to completely localize their production.
"We calculated that we would be able to produce grenade launchers half as cheaply as in the US," the company said.
"Defense" managed to get to one of the company's production sites to see the localization of rifle production and talk to the workers.
"Human participation is minimized - intervention is required only where automation does not give the desired result or quality control is required," said the site manager, demonstrating the high level of automation.
In the fully-loaded shops where weapons parts are made, there are more machines than people. Workers simply load a forged aluminum blank, after which the machine automatically mills it into the desired part — a receiver or a forend. Each of them processes 16 identical elements in one cycle.
BREN 2
By many standards, the UAR-15 should become the future main assault rifle of the Ukrainian infantry, but its key competitor, the Czech BREN 2 assault rifle, is already gaining momentum alongside it.
The first samples of this weapon entered the Ukrainian army in 2022 together with Czech military-technical assistance and settled in special units and units of the Main Intelligence Directorate. And in two years their number reached tens of thousands of units, ending up in the hands of ordinary infantrymen and military personnel of other specialties, in particular, artillerymen.
In July 2024, Ukroboronprom signed an agreement with the Czech company Česká zbrojovka to localize the production of this rifle at the facilities of one of the Ukrainian enterprises. And in November, licensed assembly of the BREN 2 under the brand "Sich" began in Ukraine.
Ukrainian agencies and Ukroboronprom refused to communicate the issue of assault rifle production. From Oborontsi's own sources, it became known that a small number of workers who were trained in the Czech Republic are engaged in assembling rifles from ready-made components.
In May 2025, the company's external relations manager, Radek Gauerland, stated that Ukraine has already established the production of individual components and work is underway to launch full production of this weapon at Ukrainian facilities. He added that full production of an assault rifle is a very complex process that requires special technologies. Therefore, a licensed factory in Ukraine could start full production no earlier than in a few months.
The localized model received design changes that reduced its weight by 0.5 kg compared to the original Czech CZ Bren 2. The cocking mechanism with a fixed lever was also modernized, the magazine well was replaced, and the disassembly process was simplified.
In an interview with Kyiv Independent, the head of the Czech company, Ondrej Bohač, said that Ukrainian capacity can produce up to 400 Sich rifles per day and it is expected that "tens of thousands should be assembled this year."
According to Bohach, Ukroboronprom receives a share of the profits from the sale, and the Ukrainian government benefits from domestic production. Localization has opened the door for the Czech company to the Ukrainian market, as every government seeks to buy from domestic producers.
Interestingly, according to Oboronka sources, at one time the Ministry of Strategic Industries considered the UAR-15 manufacturer as a platform for deploying the production of the Czech rifle, but the choice was made in favor of the state-owned Ukroboronprom.
GROT - an outsider?
Another possible contender for the role of a future assault rifle could be the Polish GROT assault rifle. Like its Czech competitor, these assault rifles were delivered to Ukraine as part of military aid in 2022 and were supplied in significant quantities to the Terroborona and assault brigades, where they received mixed reviews.
According to Ukrainian military personnel interviewed by Oboronka, rifles from at least some production batches have proven vulnerable to harsh operating conditions in the trenches. In particular, there were complaints about corrosion of metal elements, poor-quality metal of the bolt group with defects, as well as backlash in the stock.
Polish manufacturers also lost their chances of success in promoting their weapons due to their passive position towards Ukrainian users - proper service and supply of spare parts were not established.
What will the Ukrainian soldier shoot?
"It is difficult to give a clear answer as to which rifle is better. The main factor for me, oddly enough, is the availability of spare parts and service from the manufacturer. In this sense, the UAR-15 beats both "competitors". We do not have service for Czech and Polish rifles, spare parts are scarce. Regarding user reviews, you should understand that you cannot generalize experience and reviews either. The GUR has been working with BREN 2 for a long time and successfully, in general, everyone is satisfied. Now they have gone to other units and complaints have begun. The UAR-15 has been in the National Guard for a long time, I have not heard any special complaints. It is reliable and unpretentious, breakdowns and shortages happen, but not often. Now they have started to be issued to the Armed Forces of Ukraine and complaints have begun there," Dmitry, a specialist in the field of small arms and a gunsmith at the Orkov.net company, told "Defense".
He adds that most of these complaints are due to poor training of infantrymen, who, when switching from Kalashnikovs, are not explained how to properly use and maintain the new weapon.
Ukraine will have to rearm — regardless of the scenario of the end of the war. We will have to retire worn-out weapons, standardize calibers and create strategic reserves, which will require clear coordination from the state and industry. Ukrainian manufacturers believe that even if the army is reduced to peacetime sizes and warehouses are filled with used weapons, there will be no complete reduction in demand. The need to replenish arsenals will remain — albeit in a more predictable, planned format.
The main obstacle to the development of small arms production remains the lack of long-term contracts, which in other branches of the defense industry in some cases began to be implemented from 2024. It is such contracts that should become the basis for investments in expanding production, improving personnel skills, and modernizing equipment.
Another challenge entrepreneurs consider the current tax burden on imported high-precision equipment. In conditions where one barrel processing plant can cost hundreds of thousands of euros, paying full customs duties becomes a barrier to technological renewal of production lines. According to industry representatives, a change in customs policy regarding defense equipment could significantly accelerate the rearmament of the Ukrainian army not only quantitatively, but also qualitatively - on the basis of modern, localized and sustainable production.
The choice of Ukraine's future assault rifle is not only a technical, but also a political, economic, and strategic decision. It will require a balance between reliability, soldier convenience, level of localization, industry's ability to scale, and most importantly, the state's will to consider small arms as one of the foundations of its own defense capability.