Almaz Antey, a Russian defense contractor that manufactures advanced weapons systems like the S-400 Triumf surface-to-air missile, has created an anti-drone drone which is literally a flying shotgun. The drone has a fully automatic Vepr-12 shotgun with a 10-round magazine which allows it to shoot down other drones in the sky.
According to reports, this drone was built by the “Student Design Bureau of Aviation Modeling” at the Moscow Aviation Institute for Almaz Antey. The drone is similar to the type that’s used by mining and other companies to survey pipelines and other operational installations.
This particular iteration of the drone does much more than that with its automatic shotgun that’s tucked into the nose. The operator wears a visor and uses a live video link to fly the drone and aim the weapon at its target. The shotgun was selected over any other weapon because the wide dispersal pattern increases the possibility of hitting the target.
This drone has been made for demonstration purposes but who knows when they decide that it’s actually a good idea to start selling it. A video has been released of the drone in action which shows that it’s quite capable of doing what it’s supposed to do.