New videos on Russian social media analyzed in detail at The Armourer’s Bench website provide a do-it-yourself guide for creating anti-drone buckshot rounds for the ubiquitous AK-74 assault rifle. This seems to be something of a trend, which is not surprising when infantry combat is rare and drone attacks are frequent.
Ukraine has fielded more than a million drones this year, enough to target every Russian invader individually. How do Kalashnikov buckshot rounds work and how effective are they?
Homebrewed Buckshot
Shotguns, the preferred weapon against drones, are in short supply. The AK-74 can be converted into a shotgun with an adapter fitted to the end of the barrel firing a ‘grapeshot’ round, or the GP-25 underbarrel grenade launcher can be converted to fire a shotgun cartridge. But the most straightforward approach is to replace the weapon’s usual 5.45mm bullet with buckshot.
A video shared by Armourer’s Bench shows a soldier filling a length of electrical wire insulation sleeving with ball bearings, then using a candle to heat-shrink the sleeve around the ball bearings. He takes a cartridge, with the bullet removed and places the ball bearings into the cartridge case, hand-crimping the case neck around them.
The Russians appear to be using seven Crossman 4.5mm (.177) ball bearings in each round , which they say may not be ideal for accuracy. A video, claimed to be combat footage appears to show a Russian solder downing a drone with the improvised round, though this may actually be a training exercise.
Other posts recommend alternating buckshot rounds with normal bullets to clear the bore of plastic residue from the sleeve which may otherwise clog up the barrel, or alternating with tracer rounds to improve aiming.
Booming Counter Drone Shotgun Market
Normal assault rifle ammunition is generally ineffective against small, fast drones and is not recommended for the same reason that hunters do not use rifles against flying birds. Shotguns give a better chance of a hit.
Ukraine reportedly purchased 4,000 Escort BTS12 shotguns from Turkish company Hatsan for drone defense earlier this year, and the counter-drone shotgun industry has seen a surge of interest.
Italian shotgun makers Benelli reports increased interest and the company has introduced a special model, the M4 A.I. Drone Guardian (sic) —
“Its primary purpose is to serve as a ‘last resort’ weapon against small quadcopter FPV drones” — and has supplied both French and Italian armed forces with shotguns equipped with special ammunition for shooting down small drones at ranges of up to 120 meters.
The ammunition appears to be AD-LER (Anti-Drone Long Effective Range) rounds developed by Swedish small arms ammunition manufacturer Norma for counter-FPV use. Norma carried out extensive testing and found that the usual #8 shot was not effective enough against some drones, especially at longer ranges. AD-LER uses shot with is 20% larger and is made of tungsten, which is denser than lead and so has better ballistic properties.
There are many other shotgun rounds out there for counter-drone use, including the Skynet which launches a net for maximum coverage, but the Benelli/AD-LER appear to be the most successful so far.
AD-LER contains some 350 pellets or about 50 times as many projectiles as the improvised Kalashnikov round. An entire clip throws less pellets at the target and is extremely inaccurate compared to the shotgun. But, judging from the videos, the idea seems to be popular.
Worse Than Nothing?
The Russians warn that the Kalashnikov buckshot has a wide spread and the fouling problem means the weapon needs to be cleaned after every firing. They also suggest that the standard muzzle-brake (the device on the end of the barrel which reduces recoil) is removed because shot can strike it.
buckshot cartridges
When there are so many videos of Russians throwing rifles, helmets, sticks and other objects at oncoming FPVs before dying, even a poorly-functioning improvised shotgun might seem like a good idea.
This is not necessarily the case.
“When shooting you are static, which makes it easier for the operator to aim the drone,”
warns a Ukrainian manual on drone protection. Stopping to shoot, rather than taking cover, makes you an obvious target.
Shooting is especially hazardous now that there are typically two or three or more FPVs vectoring in on every footsoldier from different directions.
And while there are plenty of videos of FPVs striking soldiers who are shooting at them, there are only a handful of videos of FPVs being shot down successfully.
OSINT analyst Andrew Perpetua, who has taken on the Herculean task of checking and geolocating every drone strike video every day, has perhaps seen more FPV attacks than anyone. These videos generally only show successful attacks, which obviously colors his view, but his verdict on anti-FPV shotguns is damning.
“Every single time I’ve seen a Russian aim a shotgun at a drone he has died,”
Buckshot rounds may give Russian soldiers a morale boost against ever-increasing numbers of FPV drones. But, like the non-functional jammers they are often sold, the sense of security Kalashnikov shotguns give may be false.
Source: Forbes