Getting Shotgun (and Rifle) Serious About Drone Defense

Increasingly, rifles and shotguns would appear to be the last-ditch C-sUAS (counter-small unmanned aerial systems) answer. Ukraine is buying thousands of 12-gauge shotguns from Turkey (which makes “Turknellis” of all sorts), and American mil-journalists have vouched for them in action, with the caveat that you only have about two seconds of response once you hear the overhead drone inbound. It is all getting pretty kinetic in a sort of 21st-century Shooting Clays of Death kinda way. The Marines are actively using their M1014 Benellis to conduct “realistic training in countering low-altitude sUAS threats, highlighting the necessity to continually adapt to rapidly evolving technologies.” Thus: U.S. Marine Corps Sgt. Ean Gibson, a ground electronics, telecommunications, and information technology systems maintainer with Combat Logistics Battalion 13, Combat Logistics Regiment 17, 1st Marine Logistics Group, fires an M1014 shotgun during a counter-small unmanned aerial systems shotgun…