Russian forces have begun using improvised counter-drone buggies armed with a weapon made up of 24 barrels that fire shotgun-like ammunition, as well as six AK-series infantry rifles on a single mount. The cluster of shot-firing barrels highlights how shotguns have become a go-to option for both sides of the conflict in Ukraine to help provide local defense against uncrewed aerial threats, but also the limitations of those weapons in this role.
A video from the Russian Ministry of Defense, seen below, shows a pair of the new counter-drone vehicles. An accompanying official post on the Telegram social media network says they are based around a chassis taken from an unspecified model of the long-popular 4×4 Lada Niva series.
The most advanced development of Russian air defense systems. The Russian Ministry of Defense presented an “anti-drone buggy.” The buggy is armed with a turret made of 6 assault rifles. The second system (which looks like a mini-grad) is most likely welded together barrels for… pic.twitter.com/C0bgYlJ7I7
The cluster of 24 barrels is installed on a remotely operated turret on the top of the front of the vehicle’s open center frame. Though it evokes the look of a small multiple rocket launcher, a machine translation of the Russian Ministry of Defense’s Telegram post says that these “shoot buckshot.” They could well just be repurposed shotgun barrels. It is unclear how this weapon is aimed.
Another look at the 24-barrel cluster on one of the Russian anti-drone vehicles. Russian MoD capture
Then there is the manually operated mount at the rear of the vehicle with the six AK-pattern guns installed in a row. These look to be 7.62x39mm AK-12s based on what can be seen of their features, such as distinctive muzzle devices and front sights. The only aid for aiming the rifles looks to be a large open cross-hair-type sight.
What appear to be six AK-12 rifles also mounted on one of the anti-drone buggies. Russian MoD capture
Another style of a Russian anti-drone buggy with a mount armed with six AK-12s at the rear. This vehicle also has a pair of what looks to be 7.62x54mmR PK-series machine guns on a remotely operated mount at the front. Alexander Reka/TASS
Another multi-AK-mount in Russian service. This example has five 5.45x39mm AK-74 rifles. Alexei Konovalov/TASS
The Russian Ministry of Defense says the new buggies can also employ “heat traps,” a term typically used to refer to thermal countermeasure capabilities like decoy flares. There are launchers at the front of the vehicles, but what exactly they fire is unclear. Flares could be used to try to blind optics, especially infrared and other night vision cameras, on enemy drones.
A screen capture from the Russian MoD video showing one of the buggies firing its front-mounted launchers. Debris from the launch can be seen to the right. Russian MoD capture
A Ukrainian drone from the 79th Air Assault Brigade drops a 40mm HEDP grenade on a Russian UR-77 Meteorit, causing a catastrophic payload explosion. pic.twitter.com/SsaQCKXsNL
The ubiquity of drones has also created a demand for defensive capabilities that can be widely and quickly fielded down to the smallest units. As already noted, the shotgun barrel cluster on the new Russian anti-drone vehicles highlights traditional shotguns, including commercial sporting and hunting types, being widely fielded by both sides of the conflict in Ukraine to help meet these anti-drone needs.
Despite their widespread use, questions have emerged about the effectiveness of shotguns, specifically, in the anti-drone role. A video, seen below, emerged online earlier this month showing Ukrainian service members testing commercially available shotgun ammunition against small quadcopter-type drones with poor results.
Ukrainian soldiers test the effects of shotgun cartridges on attacking FPV drones. Apparently knocking down an FPV with a shotgun is a challenge. pic.twitter.com/UIa4jbigNb
“A shotgun does not penetrate, does not damage the FPV drone,” a Ukrainian service member says at one point in the video. “He hit the antenna [on the drone], but it didn’t stop him anyway,” another individual says in the clip.
Firing a burst of shotgun shells at once from a cluster of barrels could help maximize total damage to the target, as well as increase the overall likelihood of scoring hits. However, the effective range of typical buckshot shotgun ammunition, as well as its penetrative capabilities at longer distances, has long been a limiting factor in the battlefield use of shotguns, broadly speaking. As a prime example of this, the U.S. military’s abortive late Cold War-era Close Assault Weapon System (CAWS) combat shotgun program notably also involved development of new ammunition types to try to provide better terminal effects at extended ranges. The War Zone more recently highlighted exactly these issues after the U.S. Marine Corps expressed interest earlier this year in the possibility of acquiring shotgun pellet-like ammunition for its standard service rifles to help defend against drones. New specialized ammunition could still be a way to improve the utility of shotguns and other small arms against drones.
Pictures of the shotgun German gunmaker Heckler & Koch developed in cooperation with the Olin Corporation in the United States for the U.S. military’s CAWS program (at left) and special metal-cased buckshot rounds that went with it (at right). Heckler & Koch
At the same time, engaging small and highly maneuverable drones like FPV kamikaze types with small arms can be a tall order, in general. The U.S. military, among others, has been fielding computerized gun sights on a limited level to help individual shooters better engage uncrewed aerial threats. The Marine Corps has also at least tested another counter-drone system for existing standard infantry rifles that includes an automatically moving buttstock, as you can read more about here. Still, at least when it comes to the U.S. Army, “kinetic defeat” capabilities involving an “augmented primary weapon optic … are considered [a] last line of defense for a squad-sized element,” according to a recent contracting notice.
A promotional image showing a rifle equipped with Smart Shooter’s SMASH 2000L (also now known as the SMASH 3000), a computerized optic multiple branches of the U.S. military are fielding now to individual shooters engaging drones. Smart Shooter A promotional image showing an individual holding an M4-style carbine equipped with a Smash 2000L/Smash 3000 optic. Smart Shooter
A US Marine aims an M27 Infantry Automatic Rifle equipped with the ZeroMark Fire Control System (FCS), which includes an automatically moving buttstock. USMC
When it comes to the 24-barrel weapon on the new Russian counter-drone vehicles, there is also a question of how quickly and easily that system can be reloaded after firing.
Shotguns and other weapons that fire similar pellet-filled ammunition, like the one that has now emerged on the Russian counter-drone buggies, are still very much in the mix when it comes to protecting against uncrewed aerial threats despite questions about their overall utility.
