Shotguns work WAY better than a Russian with a stick (but they aren’t magic).
It’s not gonna be easy.
•Be good at busting clay pigeons (skeet/trap)
•Assume if it’s come down to shotguns, you’re already probably gonna die cuz if you miss you’re within the blast radius
•You aren’t hitting a hovering target just hanging out perving on your sunbathing daughter (if you have a topless teen in the backyard, SHAME ON YOU as a father)
•A smart pilot will maneuver his drone, move fast, and use cover while approaching
Shotguns
Pro: cheap, low-tech, high proliferation
Con: shotguns have limited range/altitude, rifles require high volume of fire or great accuracy, falling projectiles can cause injury or death, gunshots give away the firer’s position
•An expert shooter can break clay pigeons at 100 yards, but ordinary range is 60-80 yards.
•Larger size shot should ballistically peak at 200 yards (horizontally from the shooter) fired at a 30° angle; this will result in an approximate maximum target altitude of 345 feet.
•Buckshot has a horizontal range of up to around 75 yards. The greater mass may cause more damage to a drone than birdshot. However, when fired vertically, due to the increased weight vs. birdshot, it will not fly as high.
•Specialty shells like 12 gauge Skynet Drone Defense
•Skynet shells in one test were fired at 70 feet (unknown if this is horizontal, diagonal, or vertical distance) and required 3-5 shots for a kill. The drone also needs to either be stationary or flying in a slow, predictable path to have any reasonable chance of contact.
•Lead the target with a shotgun
•Use massed rifle fire at a single point
•A high volume of fire should be used to bring down the UAV.
•Attempt to distract the pilot, who may see the shootdown attempt and take evasive action.
•Be prepared for follow-up shots/misses, multiple drones, evasion, and even returning drones.
•Anti-drone shooters should expect to be targeted by snipers, enemy forces, and even armed drones themselves.
•Ensure that fired bullets or shots that miss are unlikely to impact friendly forces or innocent parties.
•Combine jammers/spoofers to freeze a drone to make hitting it easier.
•Be aware that shootdown attempts will give away your position from the noise of the gunfire, the muzzle flashes, and any tracers.
Massed fire, like with ARs/AKs.
The US Army advises that that although small arms have a low probability of killing a UAV (though this pre-dates Ukraine style micro-UAVs), the concentration of a high volume of fire has the potential to unsettle the pilot. Heavy small arms fire may disturb the pilot’s concentration and either degrade their flying or targeting, result in evasive maneuvers (“breaking off”) or aborting the mission. The Army advises against leading drones. “Maintain the aim point, not the lead distance. The weapon should not move once the firing cycle starts.”
•Saturate a section of airspace to create a “beaten zone” of bullets that the drone must fly through, relying on volume of fire to get a hit and kill.
•Everyone aims at approximately the same point in space and fires on the leader’s command
•The unit leader should use a magazine of all tracers to designate the aiming point
At night, a laser (visible, or infrared if the unit has NODs) may be used.
KNOW YOUR TARGET AND WHAT LIES BEYOND IT; WHAT GOES UP MUST COME DOWN.
