The new weapons are machine guns or submachine guns mounted on special turrets.
Small-scale air defense installations designed to destroy drones are being actively developed and tested in the SVO zone. The new weapons are machine guns or submachine guns mounted on special turrets. Such products allow you to confidently hit tactical UAVs. In a situation where the enemy's drones have become the main means by which he is trying to destroy our equipment and manpower, the importance of "small air defense" is rapidly growing. Izvestia correspondents visited the tests of two types of installations at once in the 110th regiment of the 51st Donetsk Army.
Remedies against "Baba Yaga"
We arrive at one of the training grounds in the DPR when two "small air defense" installations are being tested there at once. The first is three single 7.62 x 54mm PKM machine guns on one turret. The Izvestia correspondent had the opportunity to test it on the first trials. I am getting acquainted with the installation together with the attack aircraft of the Borz battalion of the 110th brigade (it also includes the 110th regiment, which develops installations) - these are veterans who crossed the Kurakhov reservoir during the battles for the liberation of the city.
Photo: IZVESTIA/Dmitry Astrakhan
Image source: iz.ru
— The built-in machine-gun mount is designed to "knock down" Baba Yaga-type targets and large aircraft-type drones. The idea to make it belongs to the commander of the 110th brigade," says the deputy commander of the 110th Regiment for armament with the call sign Shaman.
According to him, the Ukrainian Armed Forces are now using new tactics: FPV drones have begun to be based on the Baba Yaga, which attack air defense systems or fighters who open fire on it.
— In such a situation, the importance of shooting accuracy has increased, — explains the Shaman. — Now large drones must be destroyed as quickly as possible upon detection. The enemy knows about this and increases the survivability of their vehicles — they began to hang plates from bulletproof vests under the drone. We are responsible for manufacturing a machine for machine guns with powerful rifle cartridges, which will increase the density of fire.
The Stormtrooper Test
One of the first to get acquainted with the machine-gun installation is an attack aircraft of the Borz battalion with the call sign Nazik. He shoots for a long time, approaching the machine guns several times.
— Drones are the main threat today, especially at a time when large units of enemy UAVs are reinforcing one or another sector of the front. And this attitude should help us in such a situation," he finally gives his verdict.
Photo: IZVESTIA/Dmitry Astrakhan
Image source: iz.ru
Nazik says that large reconnaissance drones and enemy bombers sometimes overcome the line of combat contact. Turrets, if placed in the corridors of the flight, would make such raids difficult.
"I would also set up such installations in the direction of the arrival of enemy drones to cover our groups,— Nazik estimates. — It would be good to put it near the buildings. I think that this installation will allow you to work accurately at a distance of up to a kilometer.
Easy to manage
I'm approaching the installation. It immediately catches your eye that the three barrels are not placed in a row, but in a triangle. This is done so that the bullets do not fit in a line, but provide a larger area of damage with fewer deviations from the aiming axis.
Even before shooting, I note how easy it is to aim a fairly heavy block of three PCM. This effect is achieved by the fact that the design took into account the placement of all barrels, taking into account the balance — it is located closer to the center of gravity.
This arrangement will allow a fighter, even without special shooting skills, to quickly hit aerial targets.
Photo: IZVESTIA/Dmitry Astrakhan
Image Source: iz.ru
Another obvious advantage of the installation is not just the number of machine guns, but also the ability to reduce the queues at the desired distance at one point. For this purpose, a replica of a mechanical sight for anti—aircraft shooting during the Great Patriotic War is installed on the turret - a variant with multiple rings known from movies for pre-empting when shooting at aerial targets.
In the center of the machine is a Picatinny rail for mounting collimators or night sights.
I shoot at targets that are comparable in size to drones — they were installed on a terricon. The targets are hit — the installation is working as it should.
Four barrels
Another installation is based on automatic machines. They are most often mounted on cars, but they are often used at fixed air surveillance posts. Their main target is kamikaze drones. The first to install is a fighter with the call sign Georgian. He is tall — 1.89 m, so the installation is adjusted to his height.
This design feature is very important — it allows fighters to feel as comfortable as possible when shooting, which increases the effectiveness of fire. Previously, such products did not have such an opportunity, and tall fighters had to squat. Short people could not fire effectively at a number of targets at all.
"Now I'm fighting near Pokrovsk," the Georgian shares his first impressions of the shooting. — Up to five hundred drones of all types can arrive there per day. With such installations, if they were in the direction, it would be much easier for us. It will be difficult to carry it on your shoulders through the landings and ravines, but if you install it on a jihad mobile or on the roof of a high-rise building, it will show itself.
Photo: IZVESTIA/Dmitry Astrakhan
Image source: iz.ru
The Georgian participated in combat operations even before his war and calls pickups, jeeps, buggies and other cars with bodies modified for the war "jihad mobiles" - this was the custom among the militia back in 2014-2015.
Just behind him is a UAZ minibus with a cut-off roof and a frame made of metal pipes, in the center of which is a quadruple anti-aircraft gun.
The Georgian says that protecting the supply vehicles of the front line is one of the main tasks.
Interestingly, the AK-74 assault rifles are not placed in a row or in a circle, like the enemy's, but in a diamond pattern. There are no muzzle brakes, compensators, or mufflers on automatic rifles, as on many analogues. This design allows the use of shot cartridges.
They are produced in the "Shaman's household". Such ammunition consists of a standard automatic cartridge case with gunpowder and a "container" with a shot. Its shell is a heat shrink tubing for electrical wires. The "filling" is seven pellets.
Many people are making such ammunition now, but it was the Shaman who managed to correctly select the amount of shot, its size and alignment, which ensures the accuracy and reliable operation of the weapon's automation.
Photo: IZVESTIA/Dmitry Astrakhan
Image Source: iz.ru
For many artisanal manufacturers, such cartridges jam due to the uncertain mass of the "container", which can cause problems with reloading after firing long bursts. The Shaman's ammunition works flawlessly.
Increased magazines for 60 rounds are used for the quadruple installation. The unit can fire up to 2,400 rounds per minute, with seven pellets in each of them.
This allows you to confidently hit even small and fast-flying drones at a short distance. Conventional automatic bullets are used to fire at larger targets.
These installations are already being used in the Belgorod border area and in the Donetsk direction. The shaman says that he receives reports on how different instances of installations performed during the night and morning raids of the enemy. Each of the reports mentions one and a half to two dozen downed drones.
Shaman's Developments
The Shaman is responsible for the development of new products. Dmitry Kulibin of the 110th brigade embodies them in metal.
Shaman and Dmitry have been working as a duo for a long time. They were engaged in the restoration of weapons, and then, if necessary, in tuning and even creating new models even before they joined the DPR militia.
Photo: IZVESTIA/Dmitry Astrakhan
Image Source: iz.ru
At one time, their sample of the 1941 Soviet anti-tank anti-tank rifle converted into a sniper rifle became widely known.
— Iron is like clay for sculptors, — Dmitry shares the secrets of his skill. — The task has been set, and every effort must be made to complete it. And then you cut, cook, trim, invent, try and try.
As a result, the front receives precise weapons systems that allow it to destroy such difficult targets as UAVs.
Dmitry Astrakhan
