Originally appeared at ZeroHedge
On March 12, the Russian Federal Service for Intellectual Property published the registration of a new unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) with a shotgun embedded into its airframe.
The unmanned interceptor is a “tail-sitting drone,” said C4ISRNET news. The drone is classified as a Vertical Take-Off and Landing (VTOL) vehicle, meaning that it can take off and land vertically, and then fly horizontally. It has a wingspan of 10 ft., weighs roughly 50 pounds, and has an impressive flight time of 40 minutes (flight time is dependent on weather conditions).
C4ISRNET says the interceptor drone uses a semi-automatic shotgun to blast enemy drones out of the sky.
The interceptor patent was granted to the Almaz-Antey defense corporation, a Russian state-owned company, which has been designing the drone for the last several years.
“This CUAS drone is in line with in increasing number of technologies and designs created to combat hostile drones,” Samuel Bendett, an adviser at the Center for Naval Analyses told C4ISRNET. “Russians think that it’s important to fight adversary drones not just from the ground via a number of electronic and kinetic countermeasures, but in the air itself. Hence this rifle drone joining the Carnivora cUAS drone.”
The registration follows several small armed drone attacks on Russian Khmeimim Air Base in Syria. These were the work of jihadists operating out of Idlib, such as Jabhat Fatah al-Sham, who launched the small makeshift drones in an attempt to penetrate Russian defenses, even targeting the Russian naval facility at the Syrian port city of Tartus.
Most of the drone attacks occurred in early 2018 were intercepted by Russian air defense systems, but six were landed by electric warfare specialist.
It marked the “first time that terrorists massively used unmanned combat aerial vehicles of an aircraft type that were launched from a distance of more than 50 kilometers, and operated using GPS satellite navigation coordinates,” the Russian ministry had said in a statement.
Small drones are a significant problem on the modern battlefield. No major military has adequately prepared nor has the proper weaponry to combat this new and emerging threat fully. After Russia experienced this threat first hand in 2018, it now seems that a drone-mounted shotgun could be the short-term solution.
Saiga VTOL ))
They should test this drone in Syria against Israeli Harop loitering munitions and blow them out of the Syrian skies. No more sneak attacks on unmanned Pantsirs, and the glorifying hubris ensuing from desperate zionists.
Harop’s flight time – 6hrs Russian interceptor drone flight time – 40mins
so Russians want better detection systems for loitering munitions and interceptors drones must stationed near the vulnerable air defense systems.
is not better to use EW systems against Harop like drones?
The Russian interceptor is in its early stages of development, I am sure it’s loitering time can be improved significantly, killer/hunter drones are needed with the proliferation of all kinds of drones used for multiple purposes. Yes you can use EW against Harop, however, you do not want to overplay your aces needlesly.
Of course they can and will. The latest danish one comes back to its own small platform if it feel something is wrong.
Almost human in this. We soon might have hospitals for them too :)
But Harop has to loiter and wait for the opportunity. This shotgun drone is launched only when the enemy drone is spotted. Seriously cuts down on the flight time component.
Very optimistic and hardly make any sense at all. The smaller drones also are very cheep, so they just send many of them.
As Harsha below: Flight time with a heavy shotgun might be low. It probatly as the others, can be jammed too. Next often will be an anti-anti drone or fx jamming.
Mr Crypto Jew Wannabe “Scandinavian”. Please use your real jiddish BS name and do not pretend to represent anything but your Israeli fascist and Zionist friends.
Now you think your pretty clever and “send more drones as they are not so expenisve”.
Yeah Einstein… A single shot from a shotgun in the air is way more expensive.
No go to your mum and get your Kosher food in her bedroom.
here comes age of drone’s Dogfighting.
We will. Some few countries make swarms figting semi independent and soon a well as RAF against the Germans in WW2 over London.
Thats how it is. If some escalate, the enemies do too.
Very small drones are very usefull, we now have several, which bring medicine such as insulin, penillicin, painkillers and blodsamples to and from isolated places.
They also are used for persons like children and seniles being somehow lost and have god results.
It saves time and a lot of money compared to helicopters.
To me as amateur the biggest problem must be to see very small drones. An advanced shotgun seemes to be a good idea.