Small drones equipped with high precision guns are an emerging category in modern warfare, with recent conflicts showcasing both their offensive and defensive use on the battlefield.[1][2][3]
Recent Deployments
- Ukraine-Russia Conflict: Small drones are now widely used to drop grenades, small bombs, or directly engage targets with gun systems, including remotely fired small arms and improvised gun mounts.[2]
- Automated Precision Systems: Remote-weapon stations like Smart Shooter's SMASH HOPPER can be mounted on small drones or ground vehicles, delivering highly accurate, stabilized, and remote-fired shots at targets including hostile drones, infantry, and vehicles.[3]
Technologies and Capabilities
- Remote Controlled Weapon Stations: The SMASH HOPPER, for example, is a lightweight modular gun platform that can be attached to small drones, achieving one-shot, one-hit accuracy remotely, day or night.[3]
- Counter-Drone Systems: Lightly armed UAVs sometimes carry shotguns or modified machine guns to counter enemy drones or attack targets at close quarters, as seen in the Ukraine conflict.[2]
- Miniaturization: These new weapon platforms often use proprietary stabilization and fire control technology, making them precise even on lightweight and compact airframes.[3]
Military Shifts and Trends
- Weaponized Small UAVs: The US and its allies, learning from Ukraine, have begun to treat small lethal drones as “consumables” in the way of ammunition, rapidly adopting large numbers of weaponized small UAVs for frontline use.[4]
- Autonomy and Precision: Modern drones are being equipped with AI-assisted targeting, stabilization, and precision guidance, allowing unprecedented accuracy for small caliber weapons deployed from the air.[1][3]
Summary Table
Technology/Use | Key Features | Example System | Deployment |
Remote-controlled gun UAV | Precision fire, stabilized, remote operation | SMASH HOPPER [3] | Ongoing |
DIY gun-mount drones | Small arms or shotguns, FPV guidance, ad hoc builds | Ukraine battlefield [2] | 2022–2025 |
Counter-drone guns | Disrupt or destroy enemy UAVs with mounted guns | Maxim machine guns [2] | 2022–2025 |
These innovations are rapidly reshaping battlefield tactics, raising significant implications for both offensive strikes and drone countermeasures in 2025 and beyond.[4][1][2][3]
⁂
- https://www.aerotime.aero/articles/25712-worlds-best-military-drones
- https://www.cfc.forces.gc.ca/papers/csc/csc50/mds/Anon435.pdf
- https://www.smart-shooter.com
- https://www.twz.com/air/pentagon-just-made-a-massive-long-overdue-shift-to-arm-its-troops-with-thousands-of-drones
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MlkfclHPT_A
- https://www.droneshield.com/products-dismounted
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YM0SS-QZhyk
- https://www.pcmag.com/picks/the-best-drones
- https://www.wired.com/gallery/best-drones/
- https://www.jouav.com/blog/long-range-drone.html
- https://eos-aus.com/defence/counter-drone-systems/slinger/
No comments:
Post a Comment