Posted on 04/18/2014 9:59:56 AM PDT by Seizethecarp
A group of hobbyists with a weirdly extensive machine gun collection decided to try a modern update to drone target practice. In this case, the targets were smaller drones ranging in size from remote-control toy airplanes to larger flying wings, about as big as the Army's hand-tossed RQ-11 Raven. Instead of special anti-air weapons, they tried a few different machine guns, which are more representative of the weapons insurgents might aim at drones. While many of the bullets fired hit the drones, it took direct hits to the tiny drone engines to make them stop flying.
Verdict: It's possible to bring down small drones with a machine gun, but it takes good aim and many shots—and it helps if the drone is just flying back and forth in front of you.
This target practice was part of the Big Sandy Shoot, an event in Arizona put on by a group of machine gun enthusiasts. Their spring shoot was the first week of April. For added fun and insanity, there was a night shooting session, where people shot at drones bedecked with glowsticks.
(Excerpt) Read more at popsci.com ...
I quess it isn’t hard to see how the Norks managed to fly a bunch of this type of small drone across the most heavily defended border in the world unscathed.
Air base defenses against mini-drone copter and aircraft kinetic attacks must be developed, IMO.
See:
pass on to the FR Shoot Out list.
Wait’ll they produce drones that resemble lady bugs. Seriously.
We’ll just have to practice a lot harder.
Seems like new generations of drones aim to float around the 50,000+ foot-level anyway, which is well outside of rifle range. It would take guided missiles to hit those kinds of targets.
M203 shooting a weighted Kevlar net?
The night fire was cool.
Concealment (to let ‘em get closer) and a shotgun would work better. Flying objects are more easily obtained, while they’re on the ground, though.
Small Arms for Air Defense (SAFAD)
This block of instruction as done at the Infantry School in the seventies consisted of some classroom instruction providing the students with the theory of shooting down airplanes with small arms. The basic idea was volume of fire and proper lead techniques.
This was followed by a trip to the range with trusty M-16’s, a safety briefing, and then a walk to the ready line. Lock and load and wait for the target to appear. 200 Infantry Captains thought it would be a piece of cake to shot down the remote controlled airplane that was the target. In due course, it flew by, the range erupted with rifle fire and that little airplane zipped past and came around for another pass. In the end, there were a few bullet holes in the Styrofoam fuselage and wings, but that did not have any effect on the airplane. As in this report, only a direct hit on the engine would knock it down.
Need an improved version of this belt fed automatic shotgun ...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iX7vwivR6cE
One Word:
Metalstorm
A new sport is born. Boy is that cool.
ping
Nice.
Combine with automated tracking and aiming an you’re there!
Btw the domain dronekiller.com is available for purchase
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zdp9llrBLnA
When stationed at Ft. Bliss in 1971-72, I remember watching the anti aircraft booys shooting at target drones with the .40 mm Duster. Lots and lots of amm fired over many hours. Never saw one hit. The desert in the area did have remains of several drones that had been hit but the Army had been shooting at them for years.
Watch this video and you’ll see some guns that are close to being mini Phalanxes. They are more successful, as expected.
Those guys know how to have fun. I wouldn’t want PTSD and visit that range. I wonder if anyone tried a shotgun. Other than that they need some kind of guided missile or an anti-drone drone.
This looks like a real opportunity for a group of entrepreneurs to make some serious jack.
It’s not as if you’re going to any drones....
Hahahaha
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