Russia Trying to Get Into Anti-Drone Rifle Game With New AK Bullets

Russia’s major small arms producer, Kalashnikov Concern, stated on Thursday that it is creating 5.45mm rifle rounds particularly designed to disable drones.

Although related kinds of bullets have emerged sporadically on the Russian battlefield since final yr, Kalashnikov Concern stated it plans to mass-produce the rounds, formalizing a nationwide effort to make drone-killing ammo for particular person troops.

The armsmaker stated the 30-round journal is constructed for the AK-12 gas-operated assault rifle, with every bullet releasing a “multi-element projectile that considerably will increase the chance of hitting UAVs.”

Kalashnikov Concern stated the spherical can be utilized in burst and single-fire modes and was examined in opposition to a drone hovering within the air and one other drone flying alongside a preset path.

Ukraine has been making its personal anti-drone rifle rounds, with a bullet referred to as the “Horoshok,” or “Little Pea,” that splits into a number of fragments to widen the world of affect. Kyiv stated in December that it plans to provide 400,000 of those rounds a month.

The Ukrainian 5.56mm spherical, nonetheless, sees the bullet touring far earlier than it fragments — extending the vary of the shot.

Kalashnikov Concern stated in its announcement that the fragments of its bullets “systematically separated upon exiting the barrel” throughout checks in opposition to fast-moving small drones.

Some Russian items had been thought to have first publicized the general thought, reminiscent of one group of troopers who filmed themselves in February 2025 utilizing metal pellets and warmth shrink tubes to transform 7.62mm rounds into makeshift shotgun shell-like bullets.

The whole idea calls again to the now-widespread use of shotguns within the Ukraine conflict as a last line of protection in opposition to first-person-view drone assaults. The tactic turned particularly in style as each side began utilizing fiber-optic drones, which might’t be remotely jammed.

The West is experimenting with anti-drone rifle rounds, too.

The US Navy’s Naval Floor Warfare Middle, for instance, stated in February that it is creating a “drone-killer cartridge” containing bullets that cut up into three fragments. Different American and European startups are promoting their very own variations of split-fragment rifle rounds.

In the meantime, the idea is catching the attention of the bigger protection business. The Belgian arm of Thales, the French-headquartered prime, has been constructing a 70mm airburst rocket stuffed with metal pellets to counter one-way assault drones just like the Shahed.