The Russian Ground Forces' solution to the threat posed by huge aerial drone swarms NATO and the U.S. will hurl at it in an European war is to develop "special shrapnel" munitions for its medium caliber cannons.
Russian state-controlled media confirms a number of Russian defense industry firms are developing this special shrapnel for use in the 30 mm and 57 mm cannons mounted on a number of armored fighting vehicles (AFVs). Focus, however, is being devoted to the larger 57 mm caliber rounds.
Development work is being carried out by NPO Pribor research and industrial association, which is affiliated with TechMash (Russia's largest ammunition manufacturer), which in turn is a subsidiary of Rostec, Russia's largest defense industry conglomerate.
Work on the special shrapnel is in its early stages, with no projected initial operational capability foreseen this year.
Russian defense industry sources said the new 57 mm round will used as ammunition for the 57 mm gun mounted on the Derivatsiya-PVO self-propelled anti-aircraft gun, or ZAK-57. This AFV is based on a modified BMP-3 infantry fighting vehicle fitted with a new turret.
ZAK-57, which is designed for army air defense, should be ready for testing by 2017. In an air defense role, the ZAK-57 can shoot down targets of all types, including unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), cruise missiles and multiple-launch rockets -- but at short range.
In its current form the 57 mm gun's direct-fire range is only 12 km when fired horizontally at ground targets and up to 8 km when fired vertically at aerial targets.
Transforming 30 mm and 57 mm guns into huge shotguns is primitive, inaccurate and indiscriminate but is stereotypically Russian.
"Firing shrapnel is the most natural way to fight small drones," said Dr. Igor Sutyagin Ph.D, a Research Fellow at the Royal United Services Institute for Defense and Security Studies in London.
"The new idea is the development of brilliant shrapnel, or smart shrapnel as it is sometimes called, in which you put interceptors close to the target and launch a cloud of millions of these particles. It is tougher to hit a drone with a missile."