Ukraine conflict: Russians innovate with homemade anti-drone rounds
Drones have become a significant issue for infantry soldiers in Ukraine. An intriguing example of Russian resourcefulness is the homemade anti-drone ammunition they have developed for AK system rifles.
Both sides in Ukraine are seeking effective anti-drone solutions. Jammers are unreliable due to changes in control frequencies, drones controlled via fibre optic cable, or experiments with drones powered by artificial intelligence algorithms.
For this reason, physical solutions that eliminate drones have become prevalent, with one of the most common being smoothbore shotguns. However, this approach is sometimes insufficient, prompting Russians, for example, to resort to the homemade production of anti-drone cartridges for use in AK rifles.
Russian anti-drone ammunition — turns a rifle into a kind of miniature shotgun
The production footage shows that the process begins by removing the original projectile from the cartridge and replacing it with an anti-drone projectile. This consists of six lead pellets (likely about 3.6 mm) packed into a heat-shrink tube and sealed with a heat gun.
The result is a type of buckshot ammunition for the primary rifle. While the overall effectiveness is uncertain, the rifle appears to function with this kind of ammunition. The only caution noted by the Russians is the need to remove the muzzle brake, as it might block the barrel, reducing accuracy. If not addressed, firing another shot could cause catastrophic damage to the weapon and potentially injure the shooter.
The effectiveness of this ammunition type is unclear, but the effective range is several dozen metres. During testing, the target was about 30 metres away, and at this distance, the pellets could still pierce an aluminum target meant to simulate a drone. While this is less effective than shotguns, it makes it possible to carry only one weapon, change the magazine, and remove the muzzle device. A quick coupling would be useful for this purpose.
