New ammunition will increase the effectiveness of the fight against small UAVs
Special cartridges for fighting drones — 12/70 "Intercept" and 12/76 CS - were sent to the zone of the SVO. They are used for shooting smoothbore rifles. The first cartridge received an original design — its striking elements are connected by a Kevlar thread. A special ring is used in the construction of the second one. These structural elements increase the destructive power and accuracy of ammunition. Experts note that on the front line, our fighters are already shooting down drones from rifles with conventional hunting ammunition and special drones should significantly increase the effectiveness of this method of combating UAVs.
Kevlar Web
Anti—drone cartridges - 12/70 "Intercept" and 12/76 KS developed by CJSC Techkrim — were sent from Izhevsk for testing to the zone of a special military operation. The ammunition is designed for firing 12-gauge smoothbore rifles — the most common hunting rifles in Russia. Among them are the well-known multi-shot models "Saiga-12", "Boar-12", MP-155. As well as fractured, single—barreled and double-barreled - MR-18, MR-27, MR-43, TO3-34 and others.
— We have already shipped the first batches of cartridges to the SVO zone, — Oleg Kuzmenko, director of CJSC Techkrim, told Izvestia.
The Intercept cartridge is equipped with six lead segments, which are interconnected by a Kevlar thread.
12/70 "Intercept" caliber cartridges
Image Source: Photo: techcrim.ru
After firing, the structure opens at a distance of 15 to 20 m from the muzzle of the barrel, closing the field with a diameter of up to one meter.
— Fundamentally, the design of the cartridge is known, — Oleg Kuzmenko explained. — It is based on bound buckshot, which is used for hunting animals, sometimes geese. Buckshot is tied with a thread or fishing line in order to increase the probability of damage compared to a conventional cartridge. In the "Interception" design, the segments are connected so that we get a continuous field of destruction, without "windows" between the striking elements, since the thread can also interfere with the movement of the drone.
According to the developers, acceptable accuracy of fire is provided at ranges up to 50 m.
"But the effectiveness of using the cartridge at these and longer distances depends on many other factors, for example, on the skill and practical capabilities of the shooter," Oleg Kuzmenko noted.
He noted that the new cartridge is now being tested in search of ways to improve the design.
"We tested it on FPV drones," he said. — The results were good. Now we are waiting for the results of practical application in order to draw conclusions about its effectiveness, the need for one or another refinement.
Photo: REUTERS/Aleksander Ratushniak
Image source: iz.ru
"The Fat Goose"
Another new cartridge — 12/76 KS is made on the basis of a hunting cartridge with the name "Fat Goose". In it, to increase the accuracy and range of fire to 75 meters, the Elea ring, known to hunters, is used — a plastic cylinder covering a shotgun shell and preventing the spread of shot immediately after the muzzle of the barrel. Structurally identical modifications are produced, which can be purchased by both owners of civilian weapons and security organizations.
— The cartridge is loaded with shot No. 3 with a diameter of 3.5 mm, — Oleg Kuzmenko said. — According to well-known expert estimates, this is the most effective shot for use on drones. If the fraction is small, then a larger amount of it can be placed in the cartridge, but the small mass does not provide the necessary energy to impact the target. The heavier one is capable of causing damage, but it does not fit much into the cartridge, accuracy is lost. We have to find a compromise.
The new cartridges will make it possible to fight small drones, and the industry will not need much effort to establish their mass production, and ordinary fighters will be able to use them without additional training, an associate professor of the Russian University of Economics told Izvestia. Plekhanova, Colonel Alexander Perendzhiev.
— This is good — UAVs are now playing an important role on the battlefield, — the expert believes. — We solve the problem of self-defense of fighters with minimal costs, we help them protect themselves from small drones. Moreover, this invention should work immediately, increasing survival. A fighter will instantly master a gun: drones are already being shot down from them on the line of contact. This is the case when the old saying "cheap and angry" works in the best sense. In our case, the most important thing is that it is effective. I believe that this direction will continue to develop in the future.
Photo: Getty Images/imageBROKER.com/Olaf Krüger
Image source: iz.ru
The expert noted that these cartridges can also be used by ordinary people in border regions, where the enemy strikes with light drones at civilian targets and civilians.
— There are many people in rural areas who have guns, they know how to use them. Such ammunition will help them to establish the defense of their settlement or home," he explained.
A fighter armed with a rifle will need such a cartridge, but globally the problem of protecting personnel and equipment from UAVs should be solved with the help of electronic warfare systems, says Colonel Valery Yuryev, chairman of the Union of Paratroopers of Russia.
— Recently, the enemy has not experienced a shortage of drones and is trying to use them in massive swarms, — he said. — Bullets are good, but if 10 or 20 kamikazes are flying at you, you can't shoot the whole swarm with a gun. Electronic warfare would be the most effective in such conditions. Only electronic warfare can suppress the work of drones on the right section of the line of contact and cope with the swarm attack.
Antidron novelties
Anti-drone systems are now actively developing in Russia. Earlier, Izvestia wrote about a new modification of the FPV drone "Joker-10", which should shoot down enemy UAVs.
Photo: RIA Novosti
Image source: iz.ru
Special pipes are attached to the Joker, with the help of which aircraft shoot off false thermal targets. Only on a drone are they filled with explosives and damaging elements. When an enemy UAV approaches, they shoot, and a directed stream of fragments knocks down the enemy's device. In extreme cases, such a car can be rammed.
According to the developers, the FPV air defense team, armed with special ground equipment and these drones, can become a promising addition to the general scheme of intercepting air targets on the defense line.
A new complex of electronic intelligence "Gran" is now being launched into mass production. It allows you to effectively fight drones — due to the fact that it monitors all the frequencies used by UAVs and can transmit them to EW calculations. And this is a small part of the list of new equipment for combating enemy drones, which is currently being tested.
Bogdan Stepovoy
Andrey Fedorov
