Reconnaissance drone video released by Russian sources shows a Ukrainian Soldier attempting to utilize a shotgun to bring down a Russian drone. The video highlights key reasons why the shotgun may not be as effective at defeating the drone threat as previously thought by many. Fortunately, the drones don't directly impact with the Ukrainian and the payloads are small, making the blasts entirely survivable.

The problem with the shotgun theory is that it stems from the success of shooting small clay and bird targets during competition shooting and bird hunting. Theoretically speaking, and in a complete vacuum, a well trained shooter should have no problem bringing down drone targets with a shotgun if they are equally skilled in shooting both birds and clays.

Unfortunately, war is not conducted in a vacuum. When you are shooting clay targets or birds, you are generally doing one thing and one thing only at the time, and that is shooting that specific target set. On the battlefield however, you have dozens of other competing threats eating up your bandwidth. Soldiers at war are not standing behind a bush waiting for drones to fly into their field of view while they sit next to a cooler and hang out with their dog. Shotguns could be a great low-tech option for troops in the field to fight the drone threat, but I personally do not believe they will ever reach a high defensive efficacy rate.

About the Author

Josh Brooks

Josh is an American writer and former USMC machine gunner with eight years of experience in ground combat arms throughout the GWOT. He is currently based in Texas and specializes in combat footage analysis and digital marketing.Follow Josh at OfficialJoshBrooks.com