The AFU began using American shotguns in the SSE zone

The Ukrainian military has started using American 12-gauge underbarrel shotguns M26 MAAS in the SSE zone. Ukraine plans to use it to combat UAVs. How effective it is and how drones are fought in the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation - in the material of "Izvestia".

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This gun, which is mounted on assault rifles, was used by the U.S. Army in Iraq and Afghanistan, mainly for engineering tasks - for example, breaking down doors. It can be used as a stand-alone weapon (for this purpose it has a clip-on buttstock) or mounted with a Picatinny rail under the barrel of M4 or M16 assault rifles. The system weighs 1.2 kg and is equipped with magazines for three and five rounds of 12-gauge ammunition. Effective firing is possible at ranges up to 30 meters.

To fight tactical drones like Mavic or FPV drones, a simple shotgun would be preferable, Vladimir Starodub, a two-time Russian benchrest shooting champion and combat training instructor at the Patriot center in Kursk Region, told Izvestia.

"The drone is easy enough to hit - for example, shoot off at least one blade and it will start to fall," he noted. - Long-barreled weapons are better, of course. We have excellent smoothbore shotguns. These are reliable weapons. They have shown themselves to be very effective against FPV drones, they should be purchased. We need, for example, the Saiga, which has many variants - both with long barrels and shorter ones. It is a ten-shot weapon," he explained.

Read more in Izvestia's exclusive piece:

The irony of shooting: the AFU started using American shotguns in the SSO zone