Ukraine creates anti-drone rifle round in NATO standard 5.56mm

After more than three years of fighting, drones are now the leading cause of death and injury

in the war between Russia and Ukraine. The new threat means new countermeasures, but Ukraine's newest anti-drone answer relies

on some older ideas. From the start of the war, Ukraine was outmanned and outgunned by Russia, so it relied on commercially

available drones to launch asymmetric attacks against Moscow's forces. As we all know by now

the tactic proved quite effective, and Russia quickly copied it as well. Now, large units full

of armored vehicles are easy targets for both sides, so most of the fighting is done in smaller

more mobile squads. The lethality of drone warfare also created a cat-and-mouse game of enhanced

drones, leading to enhanced countermeasures, leading to more enhanced drones, and so on

Now we're to the point where drones are using signal jumpers to avoid being jammed

or they're connected via fiber optic cable to their operators and simply can't be jammed

Since soldiers fighting in small squads can't really carry a bunch of equipment

Ukraine decided to give the individual a kinetic countermeasure. Enter the Horoshock

or P cartridge. It's a NATO standard 5.56mm rifle round, or pod, that splits into five pellets after

it fired Fire enough of them and the soldier can create a net in the air to catch and defeat the incoming drones It essentially combining a shotgun cartridge which spreads out and a rifle round which is good for distance This video from Ukraine

Brave One Defense Innovation Unit shows the rounds in action. And a Ukrainian military blogger says

the rounds are effective to about 50 meters, or roughly 160 feet. Up until now, some of the most

effective countermeasures against unjammable drones was a shotgun, which makes a lot of sense

They're powerful, easy to operate, and they're designed to fire multiple small projectiles

which is what you want when countering drones. Both Russia and Ukraine created anti-drone

training grounds to practice the new tactics, but relying on shotguns to counter drones

means soldiers need to carry two weapons. Horoshock ammo means soldiers can swap out

rounds quickly on their primary weapon to engage UAVs, and then swap back to standard rounds when

engaging enemy soldiers. While the new Horoshock rounds are compatible with any NATO 5.56 platform

they cannot be used with suppressors or compensators, because the components inside

the round could get stuck inside the barrel, which could lead to some negative impacts on

the rifle's operators. Ukraine is reportedly using these rounds already in some frontline units

but the plan is to ramp up production on the Horoshox so every Ukrainian soldier

can have at least one full magazine at their disposal. For more reporting like this, download the Straight Arrow News app today