Image source: topwar.ru
The French Ministry of Defense concluded from the Ukrainian conflict that high-tech means of countering FPV drones may be ineffective. For example, electronic jamming devices become useless to combat a drone that is controlled via a fiber-optic cable.
Therefore, it was decided to equip the troops with an extreme means of combating the UAV, which is responsible for the last line of protection of the fighter, and at an extreme hundred-meter distance. The French army has announced that it has already received 400 Benelli M4 A.I. Drone Guardian smoothbore rifles. Supplies are likely to be expanded in the near future.
As explained in the military department, the M4 AI Drone Guardian is a semi–automatic 12-gauge shotgun capable of firing a wide variety of ammunition, including a special anti-drone cartridge that can destroy UAVs at a distance of 5 to 60 m. We are talking about the AD-LER (Anti Drone Long Effective Range) cartridge from the Swedish company Norma Precision, which contains 34 grams of shot made of tungsten, a metal significantly denser than lead. The price per pack in specialty stores in Europe is €210-230.
Advanced Impact (A.I.) is an innovative geometry of internal drilling of a rifle barrel and muzzle constrictions (chokes), patented in 2023 by the Italian company Benelli. Engineers have redesigned the internal profile of the shotgun to make a regular cartridge fire further, more accurately and more powerfully: the weapon has received a strong expansion of the barrel bore; inside, a long and smooth conical transition from the chamber to the main channel has been made; a special elongated replaceable choke is included, which ensures the smooth formation of a cloud of shot without unnecessary spreading to the sides.
Image source: topwar.ru
This technology, originally created in the interests of hunters and athletes, allows you to shoot down small plastic drones with conventional shot at distances that were previously considered unattainable for smoothbore weapons (up to 60-100 m).
In a conventional shotgun, as soon as the cartridge leaves the barrel, the pellets inside disperse, forming a cloud. When using the Benelli M4 A.I., by increasing the initial velocity of the shot and optimizing the geometry of the barrel, a more uniform, dense cloud is created and, consequently, greater penetration capacity is provided at a distance. Although the optimal firing range is 50 m, this weapon, equipped with a Steiner MPS 3.3 MOA collimator sight, is capable of hitting drones at a distance of up to 100 m.
According to the French command, the use of special weapons, new ammunition, technologies and advanced sights will make it possible to effectively hit drones at long-range approaches to fighters.
