La guerra en Ucrania muestra c\u00f3mo las tropas de infanter\u00eda operando en peque\u00f1as fracciones, los blindados y las armas de artiller\u00eda de todo tipo de ambos pa\u00edses, soportan el hostigamiento y ataques de los peque\u00f1os drones letales como FPV (First Person View) y otros. M\u00e1s all\u00e1 de los desarrollos de Armas de Energ\u00eda Dirigida (DEW), de alto costo y disponibilidad limitada, las FFAA buscan alternativas para transformar los fusiles de sus soldados, en armas con capacidad de neutralizar los efectos de estas peque\u00f1as y sigilosas amenazas. Se ha recurrido incluso a escopetas de uso militar, experimentando con diversos tipos de munici\u00f3n que dispara perdigones, en cantidad y de masa suficiente para derribar estos UAS. Rusia incluso ha experimentado la modificaci\u00f3n de su cartucho de fusil 5.45x39mm, reemplazando su proyectil por peque\u00f1os perdigones. Una pronta soluci\u00f3n para la defensa cercana resulta imprescindible, ya que ambas fuerzas est\u00e1n sufriendo enorme cantidad de bajas, por la acci\u00f3n de estos \u201cmodestos y econ\u00f3micos\u201d ingenios que han transformado el campo de batalla actual.<\/p>\n
MILAN \u2014 The Russian and Ukrainian militaries are moving to transform their soldiers\u2019 rifles into weapons capable of countering exploding drones, experimenting with different ammunition types to determine the best shot, according to experts and reports posted on social media sites.<\/p>\n
The renewed push to transform\u00a0soldier weapons into desperate defenses<\/a>\u00a0of last resort against explodable first-person view drones represents a more systematic approach to a problem that has cost countless lives on the battlefield.<\/p>\n \u201cFPV drones have become much more effective via technical improvements and pilot skills, as well as many tactical EW and jamming systems don\u2019t work effectively or as intended all the time \u2013 this forces soldiers to develop methods to shoot down drones in the last 100 meters of their flight,\u201d Sam Bendett, advisor at the Washington-based Center for Naval Analyses, said.<\/p>\n The effectiveness of using small arms to counter these types of drones remains uncertain at best, depending largely on luck and drone pilot skill, Bendett noted.<\/p>\n Russian Telegram channels recently published footage showing Russian soldiers making DIY anti-drone ammunition by using the pellets taken from buckshot rounds and repurposing them to be used in normal 5.45x39mm rounds used in assault rifles.<\/p>\n Even if a shot goes on target, pellet size and drone construction determine a successful intercept.<\/p>\n \u201cLarger pellets offer more mass but the energy is delivered over a bigger surface area \u2013 the larger the pellet, the less density you have in the air, this is known as \u2018pattern,\u2019\u201d said Paul Bradley, a ballistics expert at Hexagon Ammunition, a company owned by Beretta Holding. \u201cA dense, wide pattern increases hit probability but smaller pellets reduce terminal effect.\u201d<\/p>\n In early November, the German military-news website Hartpunkt\u00a0reported<\/a>\u00a0about a document from the Ukrainian Special Forces Command that examined Russian troops\u2019 use of 12-gauge shotguns to counter small drones.<\/p>\n According to the analysis, the threat associated with FPV drones is deemed so grave that it recommended placing a dedicated shooter at the back of every military vehicle near the frontlines in case electronic warfare systems fail to disable the flying explosives.<\/p>\n It also reported that Russian troops track the departure points of Ukrainian drones and place ambushes with several of their drone shooters to attempt to hit them.<\/p>\n According to Bradley, hobbyist quadcopter drones, like those made by Chinese maker DJI, tend to have a body made out of thin plastic as well as rigid but flimsy propellers in order to keep their weight down. That makes them \u201cvery easy\u201d to damage with widely available 12g sporting rounds, he added.<\/p>\n In contrast, first-person view drones are generally built with thick carbon fiber frames and softer plastic propellers more resistant to impact, reflecting their heritage as machines designed for high-speed racing. Sporting ammunition typically cannot damage FPV sufficiently at almost any range, according to Bradley.<\/p>\n \u201cDrones require more energy on target when they are in the air,\u201d he explained. \u201cWhen they are hit they simply move as they have very little inertia \u2013 the movement robs the pellets of kinetic energy, rather like punching something in zero gravity, less energy is transferred to target as it is used up moving it backward.\u201d<\/p>\n