"Igla" and "Ellipsis." The anti-drone issue isn't settled yet.
Recently, the Rostec State Corporation has literally burst into the information field with several the news and they all touch on such a pressing topic as the fight against small drones, primarily with first-person control.
The first news item concerned multi-bullet assault rifle and rifle ammunition. Evaluation trials of the 5,45mm assault rifle and 7,62mm rifle/machine gun anti-drone cartridges (SC-226 and SC-228) were successfully completed at the Russian Ministry of Defense's testing ground. Both cartridges have a similar design, namely, three-element bullets developed at the Tula TsKIB SOO.
SC-226 cartridges
In early 2024, the first batch of 7,62mm SC-228 rifle cartridges with a three-element bullet was manufactured. The ammunition's ballistics were tested at the firing range, and the optimal propellant charge was selected. Work on the 5,45mm cartridge began simultaneously. While the rifle cartridge is intended, first and foremost, to complement the ammunition stock of mobile fire teams fighting drones, the assault rifle cartridge is a "personal weapon." Defense" each fighter.
Information on the latest ammunition is extremely scarce, despite the fact that the SC-226 is already undergoing trial operation in the SVO zone. There are very few publicly available photos of cross-sections of the cartridges that would provide an idea of the bullet's design.
When developing the assault rifle cartridge, Tula gunsmiths initially considered the need for the special ammunition to be used on assault rifles with various muzzle devices. Simply put, the anti-drone ammunition had to work on assault rifles with silencers without damaging them. And the gunsmiths more than accomplished their goal. At the firing range, invited journalists conducted demonstration firings of SC-226 rounds at a drone. The Kalashnikov Series 12 assault rifle used to fire the anti-drone rounds was equipped with a closed-muzzle device.
A close-up of the SC-226 cartridge
It's claimed that TsKIB SOO specialists ensured that the SC-226 and SC-228 cartridges maintained acceptable ballistics during their initial trajectory and acceptable penetration against typical targets at close range. Why? Well, it's obvious: the ammunition must have some versatility. To put it simply, in an emergency, it should be possible to fire it at an opponent wearing body armor. In theory, such cartridges could act as a kind of "trench broom," since a multi-bullet cartridge in the same trench could (again, theoretically) simultaneously engage several elements of the enemy at a given range.
A Kalashnikov machine gun belt loaded with, among other things, SC-228 cartridges.
The 5,45mm x 39mm SC-226 cartridge is claimed to fire at ranges of up to 150 meters, while the 7,62mm x 54mm SC-228 cartridge can fire at ranges of up to 300 meters. The effectiveness of these specialized rounds against small aerial targets is claimed to be significantly higher than that of standard ammunition. For example, the SC-228 is 250% (2,5 times) more effective than standard ammunition at ranges of up to 300 meters. Similar impressive figures are claimed for the SC-226. No confirmation has been provided, and no one has seen test data. Moreover, during the presentation to journalists, fire was conducted from a distance of 65 meters. However, this is most likely due to the nature of the presentation itself – at a greater distance, the target and impact would have been less visible.
A still from a video demonstration of SC-226 cartridges in action for journalists at a firing range. Cartridges in the assault rifle magazine.
Work on developing ammunition at TsKIB SOO began back in 2023. It was a proactive project by Tula gunsmiths. It should be noted that they weren't the only ones working on a similar cartridge. Tekhkrim CJSC has already presented its developments. However, while Tekhkrim's rifle-caliber ammunition is similar in concept to the Tula-made ammunition, the execution differs greatly. Essentially, Tekhkrim didn't create a multi-element bullet; rather, it placed two bullets in the cartridge, one of which was slightly shortened. With assault rifle ammunition story completely different: in fact, instead of a bullet, the 5,45 x 39 cartridge contains a container with shot.
A still from a video presentation of special ammunition by Rostec. This assault rifle, using SC-226 rounds, hit a drone at a range of 65 meters. It's clearly visible that the rifle is equipped with a "silencer."
The very idea of multi-bullet cartridges isn't new. Such ammunition was even used in the USSR—the 12.7x108/1SL "Teoretik" round, adopted in 1984. It was intended for YakB-12.7 machine guns and was intended primarily for use by helicopter pilots. But the idea didn't work out. The firing range was reduced, the ballistics changed, so the onboard sighting equipment had to be reprogrammed each time the Teoretik was used. Besides, there were no targets that required a direct hit with 12.7 bullets. Furthermore, the Nursas performed better than the machine gun against unusual, large, and grouped targets.
Another newsworthy development was specialized anti-drone shotgun cartridges for shotguns. The ammunition in question is the IGLA series. A report on the training of soldiers to counter UAVs mentioned the high effectiveness of these cartridges against aerial targets.
Rostec presented 12/76 IGLA anti-drone cartridges at the ORELEXPO exhibition in Moscow back in 2024. The developer is JSC Federal Scientific and Production Center Research Institute of Applied Chemistry, a Rostec subsidiary.
The full range of IGLA series cartridges
The IGLA series of ammunition is represented by a whole line of cartridges, namely:
- IGLA LEX 30;
- IGLA LEX 50;
- IGLA LEX 100;
- IGLA LEX Tracer 50.
In fact, the name itself "encodes" the ammunition's main characteristics, namely, the maximum effective range for engaging aerial targets. The LEX 30 is a containerless variant, with pellets dispersing immediately after leaving the barrel, and a stated maximum range of 30 meters. Next comes the containerized version, the LEX 50, with a correspondingly longer range of 50 meters.
Of particular interest are the LEX 100 and LEX Tracer 50 cartridges. Their stated ranges against aerial targets are 100 and 50 meters, respectively, which is already quite impressive. According to the developers, the 100-meter range is achieved by using a special pellet made from an unspecified alloy, which allows the pellets to maintain their lethal force against plastic and carbon at such a considerable distance. Furthermore, as the name suggests, the LEX Tracer 50 cartridge contains tracer elements, which is extremely useful for highlighting targets for other soldiers, especially in low visibility and twilight conditions.
A close-up of IGLA cartridges
A big advantage of ammunition is its accessibility in terms of understanding its capabilities and characteristics. You don't have to remember which shotgun pellets, with or without a container, will fly at what distance. Everything is clear and understandable. First, load a 100-caliber round into the chamber, then a second one into the magazine, then a 50-caliber round, since the drone is flying toward us, then a 30-caliber round, and so on. Here, perhaps, the biggest question remains: how and who will supply this ammunition? After all, the huge number of shotguns in the SVO zone is the private initiative of unit commanders and even individual soldiers. This is not standard equipment. weapon, not centrally supplied with ammunition. Will such drone fighters receive specialized ammunition?
It remains an open question whether special anti-drone ammunition will be issued to soldiers who have acquired shotguns on their own or with the assistance of volunteers.
Be that as it may, none of this is truly new. Shotgun shells were introduced back in 2024 and are reportedly already being supplied to the Russian Ministry of Defense and issued in the Central Military District, while the SC-226 underwent military trials last year. And, as we can see now, the availability of these rounds has had no impact on the overall situation.
But the issue isn't the properties of the state-owned ammunition itself; it's the deployment of it to the troops. Until it truly becomes widespread, all talk of its effectiveness will remain just that—talk. Secondly, training in the use of such ammunition, especially the "Mnogotochie," is essential. And there are objective problems here—essentially, this is a completely new, unique type of ammunition designed to address challenges the army simply didn't face before 2022.
Multi-bullet cartridges, and especially regular shotgun shells, albeit specially designed, will not and cannot be an absolute panacea. However, let's hope that distributing them to units in the SVO zone will help alleviate the problem of countering small drones.
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