Ukraine is using a new shotgun drone to shoot down enemy weapons in the sky

The Ukrainian Armed Forces have begun using drones equipped with shotguns to hunt down and destroy enemy unmanned aerial vehicles above the battlefields of Ukraine. 

A video of the drones in action was published on Telegram by the Lesia UA Foundation and posted by the National Information Portal Tysk. This group was founded to help fundraise money for Ukraine’s soldiers according to the Ukrainian military news website Militarnyi.  

Photo Credit: Telegram @fundationLesiaUa

In the video, several scenes show the new drones from the operator's perspective. The drones are hunting down enemy weapons in the air and firing a shotgun blast at close range to shoot the opposing drones out of the sky. 

Photo Credit: Telegram @fundationLesiaUa

Militarnyi reported that “information about the developer of this solution, its production volumes, and the platform on which the weapon is installed remains unknown.”

Photo Credit: Telegram @fundationLesiaUa

“Given that, at least visually, the drone appears to be confidently holding the shotgun recoil, so it’s safe to assume that it’s a heavy-lift drone,” Militarnyi added. The model of shotgun that was fixed to the drone is also unknown. 

Photo Credit: Telegram @fundationLesiaUa

This new shotgun drone interceptor isn't the first time Ukraine has experimented with equipping small arms weapons with drones. In November 2024, video footage emerged of the first machine gun-equipped drone battling Russian troops in eastern Ukraine. 

Photo Credit: Telegram @fundationLesiaUa

On November 23rd, new video footage from the frontlines of the war in Ukraine showed a stunning scene. Ukrainian Defense Forces used, for the very first time in the war, a first-person view drone rigged with an assault rifle to attack a group of hiding Russian soldiers. 

The footage was published by the Ukrainian drone manufacturer Wild Hornets and it showed soldiers from the Ukrainian Defense Forces using a Queen Hornet drone fitted with a Kalashnikov 5.45mm assault rifle (AK-74) against Russian troops. 

Photo Credit: Telegram @wild_hornets

According to Militarnyi, the encounter happened near the village of  Velyka Novosilka in Donetsk Oblast. After a Russian assault failed, the special machine-gun-rigged Queen Hornet was sent in to clear a forested area where Russian troops were hiding. 

Photo Credit: Telegram @wild_hornets

The gun on the Queen Hornet drone sustained several bullet impacts but this did not affect the weapon's ability to fire. The combat footage shows the drone shooting at different targets and showcases its ability to absorb the AK-74’s recoil after every burst. 

Photo Credit: Telegram @wild_hornets

Militarnyi reported that the drone’s operators fired with a great deal of precision but it is difficult to tell from the footage how effective the drone was in combat, though such an innovation is an interesting addition to the Queen Hornet's capabilities. 

Photo Credit: Telegram @wild_hornets

The modified drone was first revealed in July 2024 by Wild Hornets following a rather short manufacturing period. According to Wild Hornets, it was asked in early 2024 to create a bomber drone that could carry payloads of up to 6 kilograms (13.27 pounds).

“We set out to bring this idea to life. Three months of work, hundreds of tests, two dozen broken units, and then the launch of the pre-production batch. Then successful combat tests at the front and the start of serial production,” Wild Hornets wrote on X in July. 

Photo Credit: X @wilendhornets

The Queen Hornet is a multifunctional platform, which means that it can be equipped with a wide range of mission packages for different objectives. It is not only a bomber drone but can be used for kamikaze and transport missions as well. 

Photo Credit: X @wilendhornets

More than one hundred Queen Hornet drones were operating on the frontlines back in July and that number has only increased as the Ukrainian forces have developed new ways to employ the specialized drone on the battlefield. 

Photo Credit: X @wilendhornets

On November 11th, Defense News reported the Ukrainian Presidential Bridge’s Bulava unit revealed that it engineered a way to equip the Queen Hornet drone with a grenade launcher. The Bulava unit also designed and tested the Ak-74 drone model. 

Photo Credit: X @wilendhornets

“These ideas have been in the air for a long time but there was no suitable platform. I mean a drone on which you could install all our sick fantasies we had before," one soldier explained about the modification according to Defense News.

Photo Credit: X @wilendhornets

The first reports that the Queen Hornet drone could be equipped with a machine gun came in August 2024. United24 and others reported that test drones had been fitted with AK-74s and Wild Hornets noted on Telegram the modification was being prepared for “full operation”.

Photo Credit: X @wilendhornets

On September 4th, Wild Hornets released video footage of a Queen Hornet equipped with an assault rifle being tested. “Our military continues to develop the Hornet Queen equipped with automatic weapons, " the company wrote on X. 

Photo Credit: X @wilendhornets

One scout soldier explained to the Kyiv Post that Wild Hornet's modifications to its Queen Hornet drone were an important development. “This is one of the initial steps in creating systems capable of destroying targets from the air,” the soldier said.

The soldier reported the technology could be used to clear trenches and storm enemy positions in tree lines. However, they added that the biggest challenges were ensuring the drone's accuracy and dealing with its limited ammunition and ability to reload. 

Militarnyi noted that the Ukrainian Armed Forces have previously experimented with modifying larger drones so that they could carry machine guns. Images of a DJI Agras T30 drone had been equipped with a PKM machine gun and Bullspike anti-tank grenade launcher. 

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