{"id":84127,"date":"2025-08-02T00:54:15","date_gmt":"2025-08-02T06:54:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/?p=84127"},"modified":"2025-08-02T03:08:48","modified_gmt":"2025-08-02T09:08:48","slug":"armed-citizen-corner-shotguns-vs-drones-a-clay-shooters-guide-to-defeating-enemy-swarms","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/2025\/08\/02\/armed-citizen-corner-shotguns-vs-drones-a-clay-shooters-guide-to-defeating-enemy-swarms\/","title":{"rendered":"Armed Citizen Corner: Shotguns vs. Drones – A Clay Shooter\u2019s Guide to Defeating Enemy Swarms"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Shotguns vs. Drones: A Clay Shooter\u2019s Guide to Defeating Enemy Swarms<\/a><\/h1>\n

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In the escalating drone wars, where fiber optic and First-Person View (FPV) drones threaten soldiers and civilians alike, one man is turning the art of clay shooting into a battlefield advantage.<\/h2>\n

Lieutenant Marco Angelelli, an Italian Air Force reserve officer and Italian Clay Pigeon Shooting Federation (FITAV) athlete, has developed a groundbreaking training program to teach battlefield operators how to use shotguns to fight off small, agile drones. As a follow-up to my previous article, \u201cCountering Drone Swarms,<\/strong>\u201d I sat down with Angelelli to explore how his decade of competitive clay shooting has helped his Counter-Unmanned Aerial System (C-UAS) techniques. From the best shotguns to specialized ammunition and training drills, Angelelli shares his insights on why shotguns remain a soldier\u2019s best defense against the drone threat.<\/h2>\n

Best Shotguns for Countering FPV Drones<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Question:<\/strong>\u00a0In your experience, what shotguns have you found to be most effective and reliable for countering FPV drones, and what are the standout features that one should look for in a shotgun to suit this role?<\/h2>\n

Angelelli:<\/strong>\u00a0I had the opportunity to participate in the development of the new Benelli Defense M4 AI Drone Guardian shotgun, the only shotgun designed for C-UAS\/FPV drones. So, after firing thousands of rounds, I can say that the Benelli shotgun is currently the best on the market. It combines the reliability of the M4 with the technology of the new Advanced Impact barrel. The characteristics of a shotgun for C-UAS\/FPV operations must certainly be reliability in all conditions and an effective range of at least 100 meters.\u201d<\/h2>\n

Angelelli\u2019s endorsement of the Benelli M4 AI Drone Guardian highlights its purpose-built design for C-UAS. The Advanced Impact barrel extends its range to more than 100 meters, crucial for engaging FPV drones that move at speeds up to 90 km\/h \u2013 similar to the clay targets Angelelli mastered in FITAV competitions. The M4\u2019s long proven reliability in harsh conditions, like dust, mud or rain, ensures the shotgun performs when lives are on the line, making it a standout for urban and battlefield drone defense.<\/h2>\n

Worst-Performing Shotguns for C-UAS<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Q:<\/strong>\u00a0What shotguns should be avoided, and what limitations (e.g., range, reliability, or handling) make them less than ideal for targeting small, agile drones?<\/h2>\n

Angelelli<\/strong>: \u201cWhat I can say is that the Ukrainian armed forces initially adopted Turkish \u2018bullpup\u2019 shotguns but later adopted Italian shotguns.\u201d<\/h2>\n

RTWT @ Soldier of Fortune Online Magazine<\/a><\/h2>\n

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Shotguns vs. Drones: A Clay Shooter\u2019s Guide to Defeating Enemy Swarms   In the escalating drone wars, where fiber optic and First-Person View (FPV) drones threaten soldiers and civilians alike, one man is turning the art of clay shooting into a battlefield advantage. Lieutenant Marco Angelelli, an Italian Air Force reserve officer and Italian Clay…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[5445,13890,5406,74,17920,7561,483,402,18761,5504,4418,17,10,404,405,9803,6166,7357,24],"tags":[658,8579,9997,2281,1558,144,18879],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84127"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=84127"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84127\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":84135,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84127\/revisions\/84135"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=84127"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=84127"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=84127"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}