When Russia invaded Ukraine in February of 2022, the conventional wisdom was that the larger, nuclear-armed superpower would overrun its smaller neighbor and absorb it within a week. That, needless to say, didn’t happen.
Through a combination of Ukraine’s pugnacious, tech-enabled ability to defend itself (backed by help from the US and other western nations) and Russia’s corrupt, overestimated and outdated military (they were still using Soviet era equipment from the 1970s in some cases), after almost four years, Russia controls less than 20% of Ukraine’s eastern territory while suffering 1.6 million casualties so far including 400,000 deaths.
One major weapon Ukraine has used to kill and maim so many invaders and keep its larger, allegedly better-equipped neighbor at bay has been through the use of drones. Necessity is the mother of invention (not to mention adaptation) and the Ukrainians have used ingenuity to develop and deploy swarms of cheap, deadly drones, some autonomous, transforming itself into what many have called a drone superpower that’s begun exporting its advanced technology to other countries.
One way the Russkies have developed to fight all of that deadly hardware flying their way is by issuing its notoriously ill-equipped troops with anti-drone rounds for their rifles.
Russian newspaper (take everything it publishes with a healthy dose of skepticism) Izvestia reports that Putin’s military industrial complex is gearing up to produce “antidronin,” conversion kits for the conscripts troops in the field to reload their rifle cartridges with shot-launching rounds.
From a Grok-generated translation . . .
They allow a standard bullet to be replaced with a special container filled with shot in a matter of seconds. Such ammunition can more effectively hit not only light FPV drones but also heavy vehicles of the “Baba Yaga” type. According to feedback from units operating in the SVO zone, the use of modified cartridges significantly increases the chances of destroying drones.
The main element of the “Antidronin” kit is a special plastic container filled with shot or metal balls. Conversion takes only a few seconds: the bullet is removed from the cartridge and the container is placed in its place. To make this operation as easy as possible, the kit includes special machines for reloading ammunition, project coordinator with the call sign Korsar told Izvestia.
Russia’s producing the reloads in a range of calibers.
Containers are produced for reloading ammunition in 5.45, 7.62, and 12.7 mm calibers. The development was tested by one of the structures of the Russian Ministry of Defense. According to the conclusion, at a distance of 40 m, pellets from a 5.45 mm cartridge fit into a 50 × 50 cm target; at 60 m — into a 70 × 70 cm square; and at 80 m — into an 80 × 80 cm target.
Tests showed that pellets from a 5.45 mm cartridge at 25 m fit into a 50 cm circle, at 50 m into 75 cm, and at 100 m into a 150 cm target.
Korsar noted that powerful 12.7 mm ammunition with heavy buckshot hits targets at distances of 200–250 m.
How well does it work?
Ammunition modified with “Antidronin” has already undergone its baptism of fire in units fighting in the SVO zone.
“Soldiers from a reconnaissance unit told us how their group of four men fought off a swarm of drones,” Korsar told Izvestia. “The guys took up all-around defense and, firing cartridges with ‘Antidronin’ from their standard assault rifles, shot down 35 drones. After that, they withdrew from the danger zone without losses.”
Modified ammunition was also used to destroy “waiting” drones that unexpectedly took off in the immediate vicinity of service members. According to Korsar, it took two soldiers several shots to hit one such target.
As the article points out, the antidronin ammo and reloading system has been developed and tested by the Russian Ministry of Defense, so you know it has to work well and be of the highest quality.
In modern combat conditions, mass equipping of soldiers with various personal means of countering UAVs is extremely necessary, the expert explained. Special anti-drone cartridges will occupy an important place in this lineup.
The ability to fire from a standard assault rifle will allow our soldiers not to carry hunting rifles or shotguns and ammunition for them.
“This is another reason why ‘Antidronin’-type cartridges are considered a promising means of combating UAVs,” Yuri Lyamin noted.
Having at least one separate magazine with anti-drone cartridges in a pouch should make it possible to repel a threat from the air. And the universal calibers of the ammunition will ensure mass equipping of units with them, according to military expert Dmitry Kornev.
Good luck out there, Boris. You’re gonna need it.