Kalashnikov Concern entered the fight against drones and stumbled
The corporation's press service reported that specialists from the Central Research Institute of Precision Engineering (TsNIITochMash, Kalashnikov Concern) have developed a pellet device for combating unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).
The device itself. That's essentially all that's known about it. There are no other photos in open sources.
If you look at the press release itself, which everyone is now referring to news resources, you can find out that this is a single-shot shotgun for 12x70 ammunition.
Once again, the country's largest arms corporation, in the sixth year of a special military operation, creates a single-shot shotgun, essentially a shooting tube, and offers them to fight drones. Anyway, that's it, the story can end here... But let's still try to see what it is, and try to understand what the people who made it, and most importantly, who brought it to light, were thinking.
Screenshot of the original press release on the concern's website
The information from the concern itself is very scarce. About the design and characteristics weapons There's practically nothing said about it. In fact, besides the fact that the weapon is single-shot and uses 12x70mm cartridges, it's mentioned as compact and lightweight—1,8 kilograms. This compactness stems from the weapon's relatively short barrel. The stock appears to be telescopic, but it's unclear whether its length can be adjusted.
As for the weight, it's truly very light. However, for such a simple, if not primitive, device, it's quite significant. Essentially, it's a single-shot break-action shotgun with a very short barrel and a plastic stock, weighing almost two kilograms. If you take the American military M26 Modular Accessory Shotgun System, an underbarrel shotgun, it weighs just over two kilograms with the stock. But with the underbarrel, it weighs less than one and a half kilograms, and it's a multi-shot shotgun fed from detachable box magazines. Why the M26? Well, it also has a very short barrel, and it's also being considered as an improvised anti-drone weapon. Even classic pump-action shotguns like the Maverick 88 can weigh just over two kilograms in some configurations.
The concern does not provide any information, but most likely, the weapon is loaded like this
However, the press release noted that the shotgun-based device for destroying unmanned aerial vehicles was awarded a gold medal at the XI International Exhibition of Inventions and Innovations named after N. G. Slavyanov, and the project's authors, employees of the Research Center for Small Arms Systems and Combat Equipment, received diplomas from the exhibition.
Have you ever heard of such an international exhibition? Neither have I. According to open sources, the event is held at the Voronezh State University of Engineering Technologies. VSUET collaborates with several major defense industry enterprises, conducting targeted recruitment based on contracts with defense industry enterprises. Basically, we're dependent on a number of clients for such training. So it seems likely that someone came to the university and insistently asked for a medal at the exhibition for a particular competitor. Although, perhaps at a general exhibition, where, judging by everything, there aren't many defense projects, this project really stood out.
One of the designs that appeared in the SVO zone thanks to the efforts of the soldiers themselves. It's also single-shot, but definitely weighs less than 1,8 kilograms, and most importantly, it attaches to the underbarrel grenade launcher, eliminating the need to carry it separately.
But let's return to the "device" itself. What else can we say about it? Again, all we're given is the weight specifications and a single photo from one angle. But even this photo gives us some idea of the device's ergonomics. Or rather, its complete lack thereof. Anyone who's ever held a classic 12-gauge shotgun will immediately ask, "How do you even hold it?" In fact, the firing mechanism is simply a straight tube with a trigger and a guard underneath, that's all. The only thing that comes to mind is that the device is pressed against the shoulder as hard as possible, held from the front by the hand grasping the barrel shroud (the "tube" itself) (the barrel itself is contained within the tube), and the other hand somehow pulls the trigger. In other words, human-like grip and "getting a feel for the gun"—that's not what this diploma- and medal-winning creation is all about. And judging by the size of the "heel," the buttstock will cut into your shoulder like a well-sharpened axe into dry wood. The only answer here is to shoot against the body armor.
Although the photo shows a homemade gun made at a much lower technological level, it's conceptually the same as the Kalashnikov marvel. Moreover, the homemade gun also has better ergonomics, as it's clearly more comfortable to hold.
This is most reminiscent of the homemade shotgun shells that appeared en masse in the SVO zone before the widespread use of proper, classic shotguns. Moreover, these homemade designs were often more practical and ergonomic. This isn't surprising, as they were made by soldiers who understood what they needed and, most importantly, intended to fight with these devices. It's clear that this was done for show; the creators didn't really understand what they were doing or why, and then they dragged "it" off to an exhibition where a medal was already ready.
It's not entirely clear why they didn't make something similar to the M26. Perhaps the goal wasn't to create something useful and useful.
Is there a way to use this Kalashnikov wonder? Basically, yes, we're in a situation where there simply aren't any spare counter-drone weapons. True, something needs to be done about the ergonomics first. For now, it's just a tube, which you can, in theory, fire at something in the hopes of hitting something. This could be somewhat ameliorated by adding pistol grips, perhaps folding ones, at least on clamps, like those installed on the Shmel RPO. Granted, adding grips would negate the much-vaunted weight advantage. But it would still be a single-shot weapon, essentially a weapon of last resort. The answer here might be the widespread use of such designs... But two or three such "tubes" would almost certainly approach the cost of a proper shotgun. Is the game even worth the candle then?
Apparently, the innovation from the concern does not even come close to the effectiveness of classic shotguns.
It's highly likely that this design was born somewhere deep within the concern during yet another R&D project. This is perfectly normal. Development tasks are assigned to several teams or groups, and ultimately, the best prototype is selected. Even the most ineffective design can spur the designers to solve a problem or offer an interesting design or engineering solution. But here, this essentially stillborn design was dragged into the light of day and even dragged to some exhibition. I'd like to believe that someone is simply feigning activity and trying to gain points. I don't want to think that in the depths of the arms giant in 2026, anyone sees this as a viable counter-drone weapon.
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