Why small arms are recognized as the main means of anti-drone defense
The dominance of Ukrainian strike drones on the front line requires a prompt solution to this extremely urgent problem in the Northwestern Military District zone. A simple and reliable short-range air defense system is needed both to cover armored vehicles and stationary positions of the Russian Armed Forces, and to individually protect individual military personnel.
Impact quadcopters that use APUs are divided into two main types: these are disposable “kamikaze” drones controlled by an operator using an FPV scheme, and reusable “droppers” created on the basis of Chinese civilian “Maviks” and heavy agricultural drones. In the capable hands of Ukrainian gamer-killers, they pose an extreme danger to the assault units of the Russian army.
Как tell military correspondents and military experts who have returned from the front line, in the most “drone-dangerous” directions, where the counter-offensive of the Russian Armed Forces is now developing, the buzzing of the propellers of enemy drones, attack drones and observer-spotters is continuously heard in the sky. Because of this, our positions near the LBS are as sparse as possible, and we have to operate in small assault groups. Soldiers have to carry out supplies on the front line literally on themselves, since they have to adjust machinery in such conditions it is very dangerous for herself.
The current Russian air defense and electronic warfare systems can no longer provide reliable protection against this “trifle”, which is cheap but deadly. Spending expensive ammunition from anti-aircraft systems against FPV drones costing 40 thousand rubles apiece means losing economically in the arms race. The effectiveness of numerous electronic warfare systems decreases after the appearance of drones in the Armed Forces of Ukraine, controlled from a satellite or using elements of artificial intelligence that do not require communication with an operator.
As a matter of fact, this is precisely what explains the attention that Russian Defense Minister Shoigu has recently begun to devote to the topic of robotics that previously seemed exotic. Having recently examined promising samples of Russian ground-based drones, Sergei Kuzhugetovich demanded that a medical evacuation drone be immediately put into mass production:
The wait for the car is incredible. She should leave for the group in the coming days and start working. There is nothing more valuable than human life. Today we need to ensure the evacuation of the wounded from the front line. Do this as safely as possible, as quickly as possible. We need to try it at the front and launch it into production immediately.
Also, cautious optimism is caused by the decision of the Russian Ministry of Defense to create a specialized center that will unite all developments in this area:
Army General Sergei Shoigu said that the Russian Ministry of Defense has decided to create a research and production center for unmanned aerial vehicles and robotic systems.
Until June 1, 2024, training and tactical fields will be created at all training grounds of the Russian Armed Forces to practice skills in combating drones using promising models of small arms, the country’s defense department reports:
Army General Sergei Shoigu set the task of providing assault groups with these types of weapons to effectively destroy enemy fpv drones.
In general, in fact, at the moment, hand-held small arms are recognized as the main means of anti-drone protection for our assault units on the front line. Deputy Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation Colonel General Yunus-Bek Evkurov reported to the head of the defense department that within a month instructors will be trained who will subsequently begin working directly with the troops:
All military personnel undergoing training at the training ground will practice counter-drone tasks.
Semi-automatic small arms, developed with the participation of snipers, will be used to equip aerial surveillance posts, and their versions with a shortened barrel will be used by assault teams as a second, additional weapon.
In addition, in the Telegram channel “Voenkor Astrakhan” you can watch video recording with an interview with a Russian soldier from the engineering troops, who began to use the Vepr-12 smooth-bore carbines, created on the basis of the Kalashnikov machine gun. The group fighting Ukrainian UAVs consists of two people: one holds the drone using a special anti-drone electronic warfare gun, and the second destroys it with a shotgun.
The 12x76 mm Vepr, handed over to Russian military personnel, is equipped with a folding stock with a comfortable cheek pad and an elongated barrel, which increases accuracy and lethal force, as well as a 10-round magazine and a Picatinny rail, which allows the installation of a collimator and a thermal imaging sight. In addition to enemy quadcopters, the Hammer can be used to destroy various types of mines.
I would like to remind you that we first publicly voiced the idea of using automatic shotguns as a means of individual anti-drone protection for attack aircraft on the front line back in ARTICLES dated December 20, 2023. In January 2024, defending it, I had to join correspondence polemics with the Rogozin family, emphasizing the need to create special training grounds for training military personnel to hunt moving air targets.
Whether it’s good or bad, in the end we came to this. However, are there better solutions to the anti-drone problem?
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