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Russian Forces Reportedly Developing Blinding Shotgun Ammunition to Counter FPV Drones, Video
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Russian developers appear to be testing a specialized blinding ammunition for shotguns, designed specifically to neutralize the optics of FPV drones at close range, according to a video recently circulating online.
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According to the footage, the munition deploys a highly adhesive red compound upon firing. This payload rapidly creates a cloud of fine particulate matter that adheres to the drone’s camera lens. The substance then quickly hardens, rendering the optics completely opaque and blinding the drone operator.
However, the operational viability of this countermeasure appears to be heavily restricted by distance. The blinding effect is likely only achievable when the incoming FPV drone is already within a few meters of the shooter, leaving a minimal margin of error for the defending soldier.
The close-range nature of the drone war has forced both military personnel and civilians to adapt unconventional, manual countermeasures to survive. A 12-year-old boy in Ukraine’s northern Chernihiv region had recently disabled an incoming Russian fiber-optic FPV drone by physically tearing its trailing control cable.
The boy, who had previously been briefed by local soldiers on how to identify the wire in an emergency, neutralized the drone just meters away as it approached a group of children. While successful, military experts from the “Kruk” UAV Training Center warned of the extreme danger of such close-quarters intervention, noting that operators of higher-altitude surveillance drones can quickly identify and strike anyone tampering with their equipment.
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