Russia's Anti-Drone Grenade Launcher Shotgun 

Thanks for watching guys, this is the first of a series looking at shotguns in Ukraine. Be sure to check out our accompanying article for this video here - armourersbench.com/2024/05/19/russian-anti-drone-gp25-adaptor/

From high speed low drag warfare. To the trenches era, meat grinder. And now, lo and behold, a honest to God. The muzzle loading shotgun.

If only 1 guy per squad is gonna get this, makes more sense just to give him a semi auto shotgun. It has more uses than shooting down drones, especially in urban combat

I think the problem is you only get one shot and it requires that you have a grenade launcher already which not every solder has. It's also not all that cheap.

It's definitely something, but part of me does think this is more of a peace of mind system rather than one that'll have genuine impact. Most of the drone drops I've seen against infantry have been from so high up that they didn't even know they were being targeted until a 60mm mortar round was at their feet, and FPV drones are much smaller and faster than the drones seen in the demonstration. Maybe with practice they'll work, but that is some insanely hard to get experience given that if you mess up once you are pretty much done for. I still think the real solution is just equipping a soldier with an actual shotgun. The cheapest shotguns are not much more than double the cost of this device and can fire multiple shots in sequence.

Tube within a tube.

Interesting, but it looks like a poor substitute for a proper shotgun.

It's an old idea but rarely used in combat. Innovation brings up old ideas sometimes

And on the western side we have 40mm "shotgun rounds" for the M203 already

My dude your "rear sight adapter" is the cap off a pen...

Gotta appreciate the guy in the video taking down a drone from a distance where he is still almost definitely within the frag radius of whatever the drone can carry And, dear god, the manual ejection. Yeah, there's a good reason the guy ejects an unspent shell in the video.

I see the return of something like the Masterkey shotgun.

Effective range 15-30meters. Good luck when the drone is coming at you with 30kph and you have ONE shot

Drone operators should also be asked to fly their drones at low speed and in a straight line. And if the first shot does not hit the drone, make a detour and wait 2 minutes for a reload.

What I cant wrap my head around is why this is a reusable steel component when it really needs to be a disposable pre-loaded unit you just throw away. The barrel sleeve only needs to be good for one shot.

It's actually worse than a slam fire. They could just given the soldiers some pipes and allowed to make their own shotguns.

One of the rare cases, where I'd disagree with the things said in the video. This seems about as useful as a bayonet on a pistol. Too cumbersome to use, single shot, too few GP-25s for saturation per squad, and filling a role that a cheap pump-action would do far better, for slightly more effort. Mass-building small, light shotguns would seem like a better idea than this.

So it's single action. Now the counterpart to this will be 2 drones. lol

There should be two raised rings near the end of the muzzle of the adapter. The ring closest to the muzzle prevents your fingers from going past the muzzle and the second ring for pushing the adapter in and pulling it out.

Never thought I'd see the anti-drone musket attachment, but here we are. I want one.

I can appreciate this for the innovation, but the Tsas12 is literally $120 for a pump action that has a 5+1 capacity. I think the drones are simply beyond the range a shotgun can actually get them before it's too late 🤔 If this worked we'd have seen mass issuance of Saiga12, good for drone, good for trench clearing, but we dont see that afaik.

But what if a drone is coming at you at Mach Jesus with a charge that will still explode?

This is a joke. The movie "Predator" came out almost 40 years ago. The character Billy had a pump shotgun receiver and barrel mounted under his M16. A one shot, 2 minute reload is beyond useless and in fact is an insult to the troops.

In Vietnam we had modified 870 Remington 12 gauge pump-action shotguns that mounted on M16s like modern grenade launchers.

i give them an A for effort, since the way it reuses the GL is clever, but this is very impractical, its a single shot MUZZLE LOADING-BREECH LOADING shotgun, meaning you pretty much only have 1 shot, because reloading takes the better part of a century, at that point, it might be best to just try your luck with the AK normal firing mode even if they had something like the MasterKey or the M26, they need a better method of detecting drones other than looking up

Ah yes, a weapon which you'd normally use with a sight rib and bead, now with an insane height over bore.

What impressed me most about this video was your narration. Good voice, speaking with clarity and eloquence, liberal use of pauses which is particularly refreshing as many narrators on this platform tend to speak incessantly which hinders retention of information. I'm also reasonably impressed with the gun.😎

I still think the lesson from this war is Artillery is still the king of battle. 75% of casualties have come from standard artillery

Breach loading muzzle loaded shotgun. Nice.

Reinventing the wheel here. Hunting shotguns have been perfected for over a century, can shoot down moving targets at greater distances and are available to buy for the price of a pair of boots.

Honestly a genius idea. There are pretty decent amount of those, so a simple adapter to get more use out of it is a great idea

The drone warfare in the Ukraine is no joke. If you hop on the YNC and go to the war page its filled up with mostly all drone attacks on both sides. Its sick... (not in the cool kinda sick either) Honestly its terrifying to me to see how real people out there is doing everything from playing dead, killing themselves and just being tortured by these drones. Dudes out there all alone... wounded and abandoned by their squad. Just getting these grenades dropped on em. Just waiting there to die horribly... Its sad. I say a little prayer for all those fallen in that war. Their families and all of em. Its pretty crazy how effective these drones are and I personally think its our first real glimpse into piloted AI warfare... which I think will be what war eventually evolves into. Remotely piloted robots of all kinds. I mean it wont be long and well be seeing and hearing about unmanned remotely piloted tanks and shit. And these guys piloting this shit are SICK. Maybe its because watching these deaths thru a screen slightly takes the reality of it away and makes it feel less...significant. Like watching people get blown up on a movie or tv show vs you being there, feeling the explosions and hearing the screams and sounds of agony from broken warriors. I do prey that those who are dealing with the scariest shit out there I prey gods with them and their families. Cause the shit going down out there is no joke. These are all just young men who aint even really started life yet as an adult and some of them are out there right now, tourniquets applied to their legs and arms, laying in a field somewhere waiting for one of these drones to finish him off. While we sit at our computers and talk about it.

I think some kind of flechette load makes more sense for a 40 under barrel.

>muzzle loading >single shot >range in the double digits This war really is bringing up some blasts from the past

If the MOD developed it it would take seven years and cost £12K each!

pump shotguns can be made so cheap, much like mav88 and yet they use this lol

With the cost, and how low I've heard some grenade costs can go; I'm a little surprised they wouldn't just make a full shot cartridge for the launcher. I'm pretty sure the US had a shot round for their 40mm in Vietnam, so I know it's workable. My guess is that, when you want a hell of a lot of light shot (which you do for drones) and you also want it to have good range, you need that shot to move quickly, hence they're using these barrel extensions for 12 bore shells. Still seems like a rather clunky. I'd think having one guy out of ten with a pump action as well as his rifle would still be a better fix. I also have to say it's pretty funny how they're pretty much made a muzzle-loading-breach-loading shotgun 😂 Btw, "bore" is English - "le gauge" is French

Intriguing development in the continuing struggle against UAV's. Great video sir! Thank you for what you do.

So it’s just a 12 gauge adapter for the tube… you can 3d print that

Always been super interested in anti-drone tech since they started getting popular. Problem with any handheld weapon is that regardless of how good the weapon/ammo is, it's still very difficult to hit a small moving target in the sky, especially one as nimble as a drone.

Seems like a pretty good idea to me. Loads of comments saying it's pointless because of this or that issue, but they're missing the point. Sure, this has its issues, but it's a cheap and simple way to add at least _some_ amount of anti-drone capability _right now_ to a lot of squads who might otherwise not have any. Yes, you could design something better given a bit of time, and get it manufactured given even more time. Fine, do that too. Sure, you only get one shot, so if you miss or there are multiple drones you're still screwed. But it's better than no shots, surely? For every problem you can think of there are going to be at least some situations where that problem doesn't apply, and so this thing will be useful in at least some situations. Would you rather have it or not? I'd rather have it.

Would be interesting to see things like the beehive rounds for the m79, or even better yet, a return of the ks23 (I just really want one)

A single shell in a simple tube might as well hold a custom 4 inch high brass. Just don't roll a 3.5 and glue a varnished over-shot card on top or that x cut plastic cap thing. Don't f around, dump 2 ounces at it. Could be more with the mixed size shot that has no empty space in the load.

the return of the AA12 is near

Eh, if only one gun in your squad has an underbarrel grenade launcher, losing that just to get a single shot of what may just be birdshot is a pretty bad trade-off. Better to just have one guy as the designated drone shooter and give him an actual shotgun.

thank you for not using a "computer generated voice" like many other channels do

there is an extensive testing of full barrel shotguns vs drons on ukrainian channel they are almost usless even when dron stays still

Imagine dropping it in the mud and loosing it right as you hear a buzzing noise.

Not the worst idea. Lots of room for improvement, though. Ex: the 12ga shell should extract when the adapter is extracted from the launcher. Easy Manual of Arms to train. "tip downwards the GP-25 while removing the adapter". Given some basic insulation on the barrel, automatic extraction would allow faster reloads from a belt or weapon-mounted shellholder. Potentially, an entirely 1-handed operation.

that a pretty neat bit of kit

Also i think its effective range due to the "tube" length won't help the soldier. I'm pretty sure that even if you hit a drone at the marketed 15 to 30 meters you're still gonna get hit by shrapnel when that thing explodes.

Even drone hit by this shutgun with 30 meters still there's a possibilities you could be hit by the drone-bomb sharpnail explosion

Love it very interesting keep it up

You are fastly approaching 100,000 subscribers due to the fact that you make very good well-informed easy to listen to and follow videos keep up the good work

Unparalleled!? They made a breach load masterkey shotgun. Wow, how innovative.

The only use I can see for this is for the bio spaced armor to now becomes bio reactive armor. Most of the videos don’t show Russian soldiers being chased carrying their guns by drones.

So that's why the Mk. 1 Morita has a shotgun. To shoot down flying bugs.

Thank you for another excellent video!

Feels a lot like a serious copium sale. One single digit inch barrel shotgun firing one shell at a stationary drone or balloon on a range vs actual combat conditions feels a bit like a paraplegic baby fighting Mike Tyson. The $109 price tag for essentially a piece of pipe doesn’t exactly instill confidence.

Не занимайтесь профонацией. Проверьте на реальном фпв дроне 9 дюймов. С муляжом заряда в пару кг. Когда он разгоняется и летит на вас никакой выстрел не спасет от удара - он летит как камень по инерции вперед на скорости 100км/ч. Дрон не будет зависать перед вами чтобы вы его выцелили. Стандартная атака дроном это прицеливание метров со 100, до которых никакое ружье не достанет. А потом мгновенный разгон. В этот момент оператор может вообще убрать пальцы со стиков. Дрон летит по инерции в цель.

does the adapter take 12ga adapter barrels? And have it shoot 5.45 at that?

5:13 "and keeping your hand clear of the muzzle" as demonstrated by doing the opposite

Modern problems require modern solutions.

they usually also use shovels to strike it away, just like a baseball bat to a baseball ball

As a Duck hunter, a combat shotgun was my first thought of how to press something quickly into the field. Next figuring out the right shot size and flight control holder...❤

Seems like making a short ranged buckshot shell for the grenade launchers diameter would be more effective and less complicated.

What the people in the comments section fail to understand is that this is simple addon to existing weapons. Very easy. Practically every soldier can have a single shot ready to fire at all times. Setting up logistics for a 100K shotguns is a lot more difficult that sending out a bunch of these.

100 dolars for a tube is a robery.

Use a Master Key like the one used on the M-16/M-4 platform.

yeah sure it works against practice targets. But GL with hitting a fast incoming surprise attack drone.

Saiga12 is already here. But this is great for clearing rooms and trenches

I like how these guys are wearing American gear, 5.11 hats, Mechanix gloves, etc. That war economy looking a lil light I guess

Interesting thanks

this device has some potential, i think, starting from the transition to 10 gauge (or even 4 gauge) and going further to caseless amunition-based devices that hold several rounds in one barrel, being initiated electronically in a consecutive order (like that once advertised metal storm)

Yaaaay lets give our boys an overly complicated single shot shotgun. Why not make a buckshot round for the gl?

100$ For 2 steel tubes welded together damn lol

I must say, despite the context, that is a very clever design

Sound strategy Cotton, let's see how this plays out

6:32 in the Russian army grenadiers are equipped with rocket launchers. Underbarrel grenade launchers are given out to senior riflemen, who otherwise fulfill the same purpose as an assistant squad/section leader in NATO armies

armored drones up next lol

A 25mm prox fuzed round for flakking them down seems like it could be practical if not dangerous to the user?

The rough idea of converting a underbarrel launcher has a ton of potential. I can imagine a specialized type of anti drone grenade being very effective

"A new unparalelled device-" *IT'S A TUBE* (2 tubes welded together, one ½inch inside, the other 40mm outside. Is this the peak of russian engineering at this point?)

....So Russia developed a beehive round. Gotcha.

people should start painting their drones to look like ducks... paint your riffle to look like the old NES light guns :)

90% of Russian troops do not carry an ak with a grenade launcher and there are allready gernade canister rounds available with more range and 3 times the pellets

I think I'm gonna stick with a regular shotgun rather than this. For safety of course.

Its a really good idea... however how often are drones within birdshot range? its much easier than carrying around a shotgun but i dont know how practical it is. I imagine most drone operators are observing from afar... and if a drone is close enough to see you could probrably hit it easier with a regular rifle... but time will tell. Its definitely an interesting idea.

Wait till drones that go over 200mph and even 300mph hit the battlefield. The current fastest drone speed world record is around 317mph.

seems like 12g shells need a v2 fuse style system from ww2

if only there was a simpler method to combat drones that uses the same ammo, a double barrel shotgun....

If you can shoot clays a drone should be easy, at a similar range.

It's a good idea, but needing an adapter on the rear sight sounds very tricky. The distance between the sight and the barrel also likely limit the accuracy.

These shovels work really fine!

For drone defense, I would imagine something to detect them early - radar or visual or by that signature sound. Then automatically fire proxy fused 30mm, or have the turret detonate the round if it's at the same distance as the drone. Or use some cheaper interceptor drone. Cheaper as it only needs a battery/capacitor for 5 seconds of flight, and only a small explosive or some kind of claws / hooks or so.

Are they trying to lose faster? Because this is how you lose faster.

Question: russia doesn't have enough money in treasury to buy decent shotguns?

Makes sense to cheaply retrofit already existing equipment. Its not meant to replace a proper shotgun. At the same time, it also removes your grenadier from having a grenade ready. The innovation is always interesting. We'll see this on forgotten weapons in 10 years though

Apparently the name of this device is "Venus Fly Trap" or "Росянка" in Russian.

So many Russians dying for one man....