Ukraine's Improvised 'Minigun'

[@TheArmourersBench]

Thanks for watching, here's the accompanying article for the video - armourersbench.com/2023/07/09/ukraines-improvised-anti-drone-minigun/

[@dexexmachinatu4151]

It's more like a Volley gun imo, since the thing doesn't rotate unlike more traditional minigun or gatling gun.

[@TheArmourersBench]

Very true!!

[@jackspringer9283]

I'd like to see the grouping of single fire at perhaps 300 yards, the tiniest machining marks could cause severe flyers away from the rest at distance

[@jonathany1240]

I’d say this was too pedantic but i’m genuinely disappointed it wasn’t rotating as well

[@custos3249]

Beat me to it. The moment he said it was being compared to miniguns, I said out loud, "Uh, no. That's more like, what the hell was it called, a volley gun."

[@thuggeegaming659]

Yeah, but calling it a volley gun won't get clicks in the title now will it?

[@GIMM3_D4_RAM]

Ukrainian improvised weapons are like the weapons I imagine in my head when I let my intrusive thoughts take control.

[@buddyboyingtonesq.231]

Yeah. Set and prop design for a Mad Max movie.

[@volkinaxe]

same have a book with them in it

[@WingMaster562]

Moe from Simpsons and his 5 in 1 gun

[@yesimrealhuman4245]

we have more dakka than the orks!

[@angelguarro3248]

You should take a bath.

[@cm275]

“Your scientists were so preoccupied with whether they could, they didn’t stop to think if they should.” -Dr. Ian Malcolm Seriously, while intriguing it doesn’t appear that this is all that effective in the AA role but it would suck to run up against that on foot.

[@JD-tn5lz]

Certajnly nearly worthless against manned aircraft and the larger drones, but potential v. rhe smaller ones. Also, with larger mags, this could be a real pain as an area effect weapon creating a "beaten zone" eight or nine hundred meters downrange. Just the dispersion itself would be nuisance enough.

[@far_centrist]

It's way more effective distributing those guns to several dudes firing at the same time at the drones than making one dysfunctional makeshift aa system that took ages to reload with accuracy of a drunk uncle with kalashnikov.

[@seanmaguire9950]

@@far_centrist But then you have 6 soldiers occupied with one drone.

[@far_centrist]

@@seanmaguire9950 wouldn't matter if it's not the frontline. If it is then jamming is better, like how the rus did effectively. Not only this thing is inaccurate, it also has a very strong recoil that you can only fire one volley at a time which makes it even less effective. A shotgun would have done a better job at shorter range than whatever this is.

[@coreliousc8915]

​@seanmaguire9950 to be fair they don't have six soldiers for those AKs. It's funny because people keep swearing they have all these US missile systems left. If thay were the case, and their AA network wasn't totally wrecked... they wouldn't bother with this junk.

[@katana2665]

Considering how plentiful the ak platform is over there right now, I won't be surprised to see other modified versions get made.

[@rootbowy825]

Just attach it to a drone next easy.

[@macobuzi]

@@rootbowy825 Drones cannot handle guns' recoil

[@hakureishrine]

Not easy at all. Off the shelf drones don’t have the lift off capacity to carry a rifle 🤡

[@fissavids8767]

@@hakureishrine I've seen drones lift artillery shells though

[@hakureishrine]

@@fissavids8767 not the usual commercial drones.

[@axlfrhalo]

Seems wildly inefficient given the severe felt recoil only allowing for short 1-3 round bursts, the limited capacity before reload, and the significant reload time. That being said it's one of the most unique weapons i've ever seen, a true frankenstein gun.

[@buddyboyingtonesq.231]

Immortan Joe finds your comment to be - MEDIOCRE!

[@freezyfridge]

@@buddyboyingtonesq.231 we do not care.

[@buddyboyingtonesq.231]

@@freezyfridge Suit yourself. You've been warned in advance.

[@arkgaharandan5881]

the idea that 5.45x39 will reach, hit and damage jets is laughable.

[@overdrivelzma.9219]

Dull expenditure on resources and old Soviet bullets in this improvisation I think ISIS invented something similar...

[@davehood2667]

As it's several separate guns fire linked, the proper term is "gun battery". Reminds me more than anything else of the fictional hurricane bolter from Warhammer 40k, but the closet real thing I can think of is the that halftrack mounted quad .50 from WWII.

[@henrykkeszenowicz4664]

Speaking of Warhammer 40k, it just looks like good big dakka.

[@WingMaster562]

It also reminds me of Moe's 5 in 1 gun from Simpsons.

[@hunormagyar1843]

They used plenty of this crap in both world wars. Like 6 Mauser pistols together used as WW1 anti-air by the Austro-Hungarian Empire/Germans, or the quad Maxim 7 or so mm machinegun platform used as AA in WW2 by... either the Russians or the Brits or someone... Bet there's a lot more. Japs kinda had a 3x 25mm gun too, who could even list the possible forgotten combinations...

[@Spocklee]

yes this makes sense

[@DonVetto-vx9dd]

Basically ZPU-4

[@aydeeaychdee]

Takes me back to the time a guy made a crank operated gatling gun made from multiple ak's , it worked quite well

[@johnstevenson1709]

Theres a really strong sense of dads army about these. I suppose that hardly surprising given the similar circumstances

[@seniorslaphead8336]

Don't panic!

[@geronimo5537]

Yeah sorry, our American rednecks came up with this years before ukraine.

[@charlesphillips4575]

I think they should focus on the mount and sights, rather than rate of fire. Decades ago I got to use an experimental AA mount for trucks. It was similar to the WW1 Scarff ring and mounted a GPMG(FN MAG). It had an optical sight with lead lines for various speeds. It did well against the model aircraft target system (MATS) which is comparable to today's drones in size and speed.

[@Dimetropteryx]

Agreed. You're also pretty much describing the reflector sight and ring mounts we use for the NSV anti-aircraft machine gun on trucks and APCs. Both the sight and the mount are Norwegian, I believe.

[@DonVetto-vx9dd]

Yeah, where you gonna find high quality 1000 bucks sight systems for thousands of people? By sending another 1 billion dollars? That's a good move ngl.

[@Dimetropteryx]

@@DonVetto-vx9dd You can stamp or 3d print proper AA sights by the thousands.

[@kronocul3564]

@@DonVetto-vx9dd you know it's not actual money going to Ukraine right? That's just the value of said military objects and shit to Ukraine. And it's typically older stuff the U.S army has.

[@charlesphillips4575]

@@DonVetto-vx9dd One MG with a good sight is at least as effective as 10 with bad sights. The sight costs less than the 9 extra MG as well as saving ammunition and avoiding the damage done by all the extra falling bullets.

[@zoiders]

Given that they are mostly used against targets tracking horizontally and the hardest thing to judge is range/altitude I would say that the orientation of the weapons is wrong. You want them stacked vertically to create a wall of fire for the drone to run into.

[@LN997-i8x]

Something like that WWII photo of a German mount containing a grid of a dozen or so MG34's.

[@AlitaGunm99]

I doubt they're aligned so accurately as to keep the trajectories of the rounds parallel. The result is probably more like a random cloud dispersion.

[@DreadX10]

The inaccuracy of the range means you don't know how much to lead the target. A shotgun pattern solves that too.

[@aymonfoxc1442]

​@@UCKY5Given the magazine size, they also couldn't afford to hold down the trigger and lay down a continual wall of lead - even if they wanted to. It's got to be bursts with correction. Perhaps, a different arrangement might work if teams of these platforms were deployed and each laid down fire in succession (so tgey can adjust based eachother's trajectories)?

[@zoiders]

@@UCKY5 Long bursts is exactly how a MG is used in the AA role. When they fire this thing every magazine is emptied. You lead the target and fire where it will be not where it was. That's easier to judge than altitude which is the biggest obstacle to accuracy. They are oriented the wrong way.

[@mightymystery9204]

That collection of rifles for a larger beaten zone is ingenious. For better lead estimation, it might be better if the first 3 rounds in every magazine were tracers. Knowing his sight lead when he fired the first burst, and observing the downrange proximity to the target, the gunner could correct his lead for subsequent bursts without continuously giving away his position. Seeing multiple battle rifles used for anti-aircraft operations, reminded me that, in prior years, riflemen had been given a theoretical means of fighting aircraft, if caught in the open. The ones aligned with the path all fired at similar angles, thus different lead points, so that the aircraft would get hit by chance flight into several bullets. Lateral squads took fixed leads in hopes that at one instant, the pilot would pass through a narrow wall of fire. It was theoretical, but it beat doing nothing, and it used random probability to compensate for lack of lead and ranging experience. It gave new meaning to the Marine novelty drill command, "To-the-winds, march!" which allowed a platoon to disperse cruciform, in seconds.

[@IFarmBugs]

Would work good with a tuned up sight along with a shoulder brace like on WW2 naval anti-air guns, bet you could control recoil a lot nicer with more of your body wait on the weapon system. Using cheap Turkish shotguns might be an interesting trial. Lets also run some tests on which shotgun shell is most effective.

[@jacobcrouch6418]

Maybe they can tap into the US prison system's idea and have a net-style shell to capture drones

[@fnorgen]

As ridiculous as it looks, it might actually be developed into a somewhat practical system if they happen to have a large excess of old AKs laying around and a shortage of suitable machine guns. Looks to me though like the mount needs more work to make the recoil more manageable. I didn't expect to see this contraption actually fire! I must admit, it looks awfully fun.

[@hartzaden]

Properly sandbagged it be fine.

[@wadekirby8575]

@@hartzaden it is recoiling at the hinge, sandbags will not help. But it has promise as a prototype. Perhaps the next version will have a spring loaded sled type recoil damping system.

[@TroIIingThemSoftly]

@@wadekirby8575 I wonder if they could incorporate a gas shock into the mechanism pre-hinge.

[@wadekirby8575]

@@TroIIingThemSoftly some one in the comments described a simple improvement. Put the pivot point in the center of the weapons so that each muzzle blast would have an opposed and equal force.

[@Subpac_ww2]

As others have said more like a volley gun. Loving these innovations. I can't wait for someone to put a book out years later with all of them.

[@Kefuddle]

I think they need to twist the compensators around a bit or something. It looks like a complete handful and probably really ineffective as is.

[@creightonleerose582]

Good catch, twist all muzzle brakes to near as 12 O Clock position as possible? Problem being the spring loaded detent that locks/index's the AK74 brake to 12OC is located on the front site base near barrel @ the 12OC position. They could mod/drill/dremel a secondary timing/indexing notch in the brakes themselves to accomplish this as the rifles are mounted radially... Those AK74 brakes send a fair bit of concussive force out to each side of the firing axis & theres two holes drill'd in the top of each one to keep the the muzzle from rising during firing the cycle.... As the rig sits w/rifles mounted radially, the the top 2 holes in each brake push the rifle rise/recoil towards the axial center, which is GOOD, but the brakes side ports @ differing angles will negate any advantage as to the former attribute... Although it prob wouldnt be used in low/no light situations, when firing bursts, just ONE AK74 brake will rob the users natural, unaided, night vision capacity quite quickly.... Id play around with linear compensator's that push the recoil straight

[@Kefuddle]

@@creightonleerose582 I forgot about that spring pin lock on the compensator. Copious quantities of Loctite thread lock should keep the compensators more or less in the right place. But I suspect this design will reach its limits pretty quickly.

[@dwaneanderson8039]

It appears that the swivel for the elevation is low, causing muzzle rise. They should redesign the mount so that the swivel axis is in the middle of the rig. No need for compensators.

[@creightonleerose582]

@@Kefuddle Agreed, but still >>forward>>thinking eh? Ive cobbled together some pretty effective stuff as too firearms additions & other ideas right here in the Art n'-Ammo-Alembic/Garage, w/o even having the right tools for the job... ~NEVER underestimate a sufficiently talented FOOL right?...;) The WW2 German 3 gun horizontal arrange'd 'Drilling' was pretty effective @ AA duties... Maybe 3 PKM's in a pyramidal arrangement?...Better range, more WH-ammo, heavier, but meh, with the right chassis holden em... Take 'er easy...

[@creightonleerose582]

@@dwaneanderson8039 True. Great insight...

[@jimmymcjimmyvich9052]

It's cute but far too slow and by the time a target is tracked it's empty. Good for the A team))

[@akiko009]

Great idea, but the mounting needs to be changed so the recoil doesn't cause that twisting motion. Minigun mounts should provide some good ideas for what to do.

[@KaneTheMediocre]

If the mount pivoted on true center, both recoil and basic aiming would be much better, but that centered mechanism is significantly more complicated to build. Hopefully this was just a trial rig and they've already put together the next version with improved mounting.

[@wulfmaer8919]

Shotguns, my brothers! Shotguns! Loaded with bird shot! Pack a few of those together with a calibrated offset--meaning the gun barrels angled to disperse the pellets in a wide swath at a specified range, and you will have a low level drone killer on your hands!

[@satanihelvetet]

In some way I agree, but at the same time I realyze the very limited range for a shotgun. I also think you might try the bigger pellets (is it called buck shots in English?)...

[@wulfmaer8919]

@@satanihelvetet buck shot is a general term for pellets, but the pellets can vary in size from big to small. I can certainly see the case for bigger pellets! It’s really about range. You could load the shotguns with a variety of shot for the mission of the day.

[@satanihelvetet]

@@wulfmaer8919 Yeah, but buck shots and bird shots are two categorys of shots, where the buck shot has the bigger pellets sizes.

[@Mika-ph6ku]

@user-sx6li9ph9iYou never seen someone shoot down ducks with a shotgun before? They have more than enough range to down small quad copters.

[@Mika-ph6ku]

@@satanihelvetetbird shot should be fine against little quad copters and buckshot won't have as much of a spread, so it'll be harder to hit the drone. You really don't need very big projectiles at all since these quad copters are made of plastic. Even a bb gun could penetrate their hulls and damage their fragile electrical internals.

[@JeepLife92]

The odds of hitting that small of a target (drone) is highly unlikely. Just a waste of ammo.

[@maksymporokhnavets3608]

There is nothing less courtly than this. An AK costs like 500 outside of the west, Ukrainians have stockpiles of those aks and stockpiles of ammunition

[@johndor7793]

Its not unlikely if all the shots are tracers I would think.

[@johndor7793]

@@darrenyorston ball? Tracer doesn't make you a better shot? You're playing semantics.

[@XtreeM_FaiL]

That is much better than zero. Odd to hit enemy soldier who is shooting you is also tiny. Waste of ammo too? Shot you don't take is always a miss.

[@johndor7793]

@@darrenyorston Tracer will of course improve your follow-up shots.

[@jaysanj152]

This is the kind of improvised weapon you get to craft in games like dead rising XD. Jokes aside,it does looks creative and dangeriously fun but i don't know if it'll be effective let alone safe in general.

[@JeanLucCaptain]

6 x the chance of failure from 6 guns.

[@jeramyneeley3351]

This is like the Turrets from Gears of war 3, just rifles slapped on a platform.

[@danajorgensen1358]

It isn't improvised. One of the Warsaw Pact nations developed it in the 1970's.

[@mattl3729]

That doesn't mean it isn't improvised- the guy who banged this together might never have heard of the one you're thinking of.

[@someguy872]

Really creative, they really know how to make use of everything they have

[@meatyboy8811]

Shotgun's would do the job bette especially for drones And you wouldn't need to waste so many firearms!

[@mrwhips3623]

When the Russians create vehicles apparently they are desperate but when the Ukrainians do this apparently their "creative"🤦

[@reno239]

@@mrwhips3623that’s a minigun not a vehicle but fair enough

[@kaeji_namitsua]

@@reno239 Thats even worse.

[@far_centrist]

​@@mrwhips3623 the double standard is outright hilarious. Rus using T64 : "museum tank haha" ukr using T55 : "good enough for this type of war"

[@SalmonJonesTheMagnificent]

Things are not going well if you're having to resort to this kinda stuff. I highly doubt this is any more effective than just shooting a single AK and being able to, you know. Aim it.

[@theotherohlourdespadua1131]

You don't have the choice of weapons when you're in a desperate fight for survival. Britain in 1940 resort to recycling downed Spitfires, made literal pikes - old WW1 Lee-enfield bayonets welded to metal poles - for the Home Guard, and making armored vehicles using concrete for armor when the fear of invasion was imminent. Polish resistance fighters make submachine guns out of medical supplies and bed springs. The Red Army in 1941 do tank ramming tactics because they didn't have time to boresight their tank guns or have no ammo for it...

[@freezyfridge]

@@theotherohlourdespadua1131 this is 2023

[@theotherohlourdespadua1131]

​@@freezyfridgeAnd? Myanmar PDF's are fighting against the military Junta using old guns, repurposed guns, and 3d printed guns. Same is happening in Yemen and Ethiopia. It's 2023 and yet you think every country has a well-armed military like that of the US...

[@freezyfridge]

@@theotherohlourdespadua1131 those countries arent supported by the entire world

[@martkbanjoboy8853]

Is the radial arrangement really necessary? If you had two or three rifles on a side by side mount, such that they were clamped in there upside down, It would possibly be easier to collimate the rifles as far as the convergence point is concerned. The mount could be made like a USN .50 cal mount with a recoiling trolley. It might be as efficient as the six rifle rig, but with less weight of fire - which would be compensated for by being able to be more flexible logistically, less recoil, and a more predictable beaten zone.

[@Br1cht]

I believe you´re right here, everything would be better with side-by-side config aiming, recoil, reloading and production just to name the most obvious ones.

[@markmilan57]

Better to build a Gatling gun with a mortar. But wow that home-made one looks impressive.

[@WARGODS-ez1bu]

that would be super cool

[@H311fi5h]

The pivot point needs to be in line with recoil. It is significantly below causing the rig to flip up so every salvo after the first is wasted. With that fixed I can see this contraption working.

[@buddyboyingtonesq.231]

100%, exactly what I thought. They almost had it...

[@Br1cht]

Good point.

[@fuge74]

I think a 12 GA with buck shot might end up working better than wasting 6-8 7.62 per pull.

[@ruzziasht349]

You know the height drones fly at?

[@user-mp3eq6ir5b]

@fuge74 - Nailed It !

[@donwyoming1936]

It really needs to be beefed up. Install a search light & targeting laser. Some sort of anti air sight or optical sight. At the very least, we should get them some 95 round, South Korean, 5.45 drums.

[@joonasnaski9513]

I wonder where those bullets are gonna land. A lot of them could end up in fields but some are bound to do some damage to something other than a drone.

[@randomnameseventythree2255]

I mean ...... that is any AAA fire at least its not 20mm or above cause those go for miles and tend to still explode in someones kitchen where these will fall apart once they come down and hit anything solid like a roof or wall

[@joonasnaski9513]

@@randomnameseventythree2255 I think many of them are airburst tho.

[@randomnameseventythree2255]

@@joonasnaski9513 a lot of em are not soviet HE tends to just be HE even their "terminator" doesnt have air burst

[@Shadow_Hawk_Streaming]

honestly surprised they didn't add some kind of brass deflector system

[@FontaineLovers]

Why don't they just use light machine guns like PKM?

[@anthonymcbride855]

Reloading game

[@cat_city2009]

Maybe they're out of machine guns.

[@badideagenerator2315]

because they have bigger stockpiles of rifles than LMG's.

[@herberar]

I think that drones could be downed with some kind of over sized shotgun . Something like the old "Punt guns"

[@blorism]

I saw videos of this new weapon a long time ago (a few months). I am amazed that only now it has been discussed.

[@TheArmourersBench]

Cool, let us know next time you see something interesting! :)

[@blorism]

@@TheArmourersBench I was looking for a video to be able to send you to be able to reinforce my statement, but I simply focused on one point that you discussed in the video. What I saw was spinning and even had a sort of metallic viewfinder so we can say that we are talking about two totally different things.

[@TheArmourersBench]

That sounds even more interesting, would love to see that!

[@jonesy279]

It’s kinda like bird shot but each “shot” is 5.45 😂 It’s some Mad Max shit, so I love it.

[@xeon2509]

I remember video of some guy in US he made same thing like this just with M4s lol

[@MeatVision]

Not only he couldn't hit one bullet, the weight destroys your arm. What were they thinking!! xD

[@wilbert2678]

Imagine reloading that

[@dareka9425]

Reminds me of several Luger pistols arranged together as makeshift anti-aircraft armaments on early combat aircraft.

[@jasonkeating9958]

They could really do with swapping the 74s with a saiga 12 gauge shotguns especially for antidrone, but this has the added benefit of anti personal at distance

[@woodonfire7406]

But imagine the huge recoil it gives

[@freezyfridge]

@@woodonfire7406 same issue with the aks???

[@handbananaistherapist642]

Hmmmm, this seems to be a whole lot of work for little effect. Maybe develop a portable ECM device to scramble the drones ability to receive electronic input.

[@freezyfridge]

so you see that would be modern warfare

[@handbananaistherapist642]

@@freezyfridge Not rocket science. I built one in the 8th grade with junk i found in the garage.

[@freezyfridge]

@@handbananaistherapist642 ehh any junk is considered a genius invention if its ukrainian

[@operaatio5117]

To be honest, that is mostly likely not a Molotov cocktail, its just a firebottle.

[@freezyfridge]

small fire bottle genius invention from ukraine!!! its so genius and innovative i cant believe they did this

[@richardfinnigan7458]

The recoil is not under control which might not be needed if they're happy with short volley bursts. The shot pattern might be quite effective.

[@bobdole6691]

I sincerely hope it is nothing more than a cute vanity project. Figure out alternatives to the reloading mechanism before the ape reload procedure gets allied forces killed, replace the mags with tube fed inserts even.

[@richardfinnigan7458]

@@bobdole6691 I think the developer is interested in the shot pattern. That's why he hasn't handled recoil, short bursts are what he wants.

[@ubergooberumbergumber5155]

The real question would they even be powerful enough to go as high as a drone Maybe it’s just me getting physics wrong in my head but I can’t see regular machine guns firing that high to hit enemy drones

[@Jesses001]

That...sure is a thing that was made. What an interesting idea, ha. I wounder how effective it is.

[@angrydragon4574]

It certainly beats waving your middle finger at a drone.

[@johndoran3274]

I remember they did this years ago on Sons of Guns, but they did it with Saiga shotguns.

[@BackYardScience2000]

Now that's cool! Never underestimate the ingenuity of a people under threat.

[@KoshGAZ69]

и что - никто не догадался делать соединение этого изделия с неподвижной частью в центре, по оси или близко от нее, чтобы не ловить подъем от отдачи каждый раз?????

[@aenorist2431]

Is gonna be completely useless, as pretty much all small arms groundfire is against drones, but it probably feels really nice.

[@danielcurtis1434]

The rate of fire is t that high anyways they aren’t firing anything like s mini gun??? It doesn’t serve any purpose in my mind?

[@boogaloo_weed]

What makes you say that? If you hit a quadcopter with one round it's gonna get fucked

[@caeserromero3013]

I seem to remember see a video a while back from WW2 where somebody fitted a load of sub machine guns (PPSH??) on the underside of a plane, pointing directly downward to use for strafing...apparently it wasn't a success.

[@joonasnaski9513]

All we need now is one remotely controlled one mounted on an armored pickup and then it would be like mad max or crossout.

[@dmytro-skh]

but some of Shahed drones in reality were hit by usual AK-shooters

[@jayking1122]

This clearly a crew served weapons.

[@thuggeegaming659]

It's hard to tell, but it looked like the improvised weapon didn't shoot down any drones in testing. Still a neat idea, and given the glut of AK's in Ukraine, it makes sense to put them to work in an improvised manner, it just needs a better method to assist in targeting drones. Also I think spreading out the guns more using a wider hex centerpiece might increase hit probability.

[@dmytro-skh]

highly likely they are shooting at simple cardboard models towed from the ground. Nothing to explode inside and no mechanism to be damaged => can't access from the ground immediately if you hit it

[@thuggeegaming659]

@@dmytro-skh It's flying too high to be towed from the ground, although looking at it now, I see something in front of the drone, so it might be towed from the air by another drone? Hard to say.

[@RayRayWasAGoodBoy]

All those billions of dollars and this is what they come up with?! I want my money back

[@justiceforjoggers2897]

You're about 16 taxes too late

[@nobodyherepal3292]

No, our tax money is being used to protect their more critical infrastructure and major cities. This is their state-sponsored militia units trying to come up with something that requires less tax-money to use and build.

[@studentaviator3756]

Seems strange that 2 or 3 maxims on a mount wouldnt be better.

[@LN997-i8x]

3 Maxim's strapped together would weigh 5x as much and have half the rate of fire.

[@studentaviator3756]

@@LN997-i8x but 250 round belts and longer sustained fire

[@theotherohlourdespadua1131]

If you can get one or three. As one other commentator said, Ukraine has only 32k Maxims. Compare that to the literal millions of AK's floating inside Ukraine. It makes sense they will do this given the guns they have...

[@mattl3729]

Maybe they have those somewhere- just because someone showed a video of this contraption doesn't mean there isn't anything else out there. This is just weird and the Internet likes weird...

[@Jon.A.Scholt]

This looks like it taken from concept art from Fury Road. Totally see the Bullet Farmer mounting this on a War Rig.

[@gk.spinoza]

I expect this type of homemade weapon from an insurgency, somewhere like Afghanistan, but not in the Ukraine after receiving so much money and an arsenal of modern weaponry from countries such as the USA and Canada etc...

[@SelectKiko]

Realistically you don't want to waste that equipment on low value targets like some dji at 250m. A few volleys of 7.62 are cheap and ammo is plentiful

[@mattl3729]

Why? A war is VERY expensive and the front is so long, everything they have isn't nearly enough. If you have a bunch of rifles and some basic mechanic skills, you can bodge together something that might work- so why not try? They've been ridiculously successful in their home-made designs for drone- carried munitions release and stabilizing equipment- made in basements, with 3D printers. They produce their own EW anti-drone 'guns' and probably a ton of other stuff.

[@mattl3729]

@@SelectKiko5.45mm you mean- those are AK74s, not AKMs. Despite what most people think, nobody uses AKMs any more except third world type forces...

[@Br1cht]

30% disappear on the way there according to CBS(or another MSM outlet) and the RF boys seems quite on top of the interdiction strikes as well so needs musts as they say.

[@kathyarmstrong649]

It could use some shoulder hoops, like an amusement park ride. I've seen this in WW2 films.

[@larscelander5696]

Recoil way too much to handle for the mount. Effective rate of fire is probably no better than for a single rifle on automatic with a better controlled recoil.

[@zoiders]

It's about weight of fire in short window of time. Not rate of fire.

[@larscelander5696]

Many bullets in a short time, then a length pause to adjust aim thrown off by the recoil, can have the same number of bullets per unit of time as a single rifle firing at a steady pace. Was that easier to understand?

[@zoiders]

@@larscelander5696 You still don't understand the difference.

[@larscelander5696]

@@zoiders Then explain it.

[@anthonyfarrell7720]

If the elevating hinge were placed inline with the center axis of the gun mount, there would be vitally no muzzle-flip and the weapon would be far more controllable. If that sentence didn't make sense to you, just copy the Browning M2 machine gun AA mount and there shouldn't be any problem with recoil.

[@prettyboyjeremy]

Ah Browning 100 years old and still the best we got

[@thepunisher2988]

As interesting as this seems, it is a sign of a deeper problem within the Ukraine forces. First of all, why do they even need to make something like that when the Western allies are supplying them weapons? If that is what they are resorting to to try to shoot down the drones, something isn't going right for them in their fight against the Russians. Either they aren't being supplied with the right weapons, or they can't keep up their fight against the drones with what they have currently.

[@theotherohlourdespadua1131]

I don't find it strange or unusual. The USSR faced weapons shortages despite being amply supplied by the other Allies such as use of captured German tanks and trucks alongside their own tanks and Lend-Lease tanks and trucks. They used those up until Berlin's fall in 1945...

[@alun7006]

The use of small drones in the Ukraine war is causing a HUGE headache for military planners globally. Everyone is scrambling to come up with new doctrines and weapons to counter them. There aren't really any effective weapons around as yet. There are some EW/jamming tools, but they're very hard to engage directly due to their size, low heat signatures and performance. I have a little DJI drone, and flying it at 100m altitude it's very hard to see even when I know where it is. It'd fly at 500m with no trouble and would be absolutely impossible to detect.

[@mattl3729]

Or the war is BIG. Look at the sheer size of the lines and then look at the lists of equipment and weapons supplied- it's not as much as you seem to think. They're not 'resorting' to anything- this is one of many, many people coming up with creative solutions for their needs. Not everyone gets EW systems or AA missiles and there are probably thousands of drones in flight at any given time. It's a sign that Ukraine doesn't have everything it needs, yes, but that's because the war is BIG and we can't send them enough stuff.

[@BoraHorzaGobuchul]

Firstly, the West doesn't supply enough weapons to Ukraine. It is always too little too late, and in slight increments. Which also drags out the conflict. Secondly, there's not enough advanced weapons. Thirdly, that's drone saturation for you - the whole of the world doesn't have enough spaags to cover every approach to every target attacked by a multitude of cheap drones in Ukraine. What they do have is lots of spare AKs lying around since there's always been lots of those and since sending modern ARs is the cheapest and easiest way to be able to claim "the West is helping them", which is good per se but bad in that it is not the most critical area in which Ukraine needs assistance. What they really need is modern AA, really long range stuff (arty, mlrs, and cruise missiles), and armor. Need of air assets is debatable, not going to say anything here since it's a complex topic and I'm certainly not informed enough to deal with it.

[@science7542]

the triggering time must be in that way that it could reduce the kickback, so those triggering ''fingers'' must be put at different distances

[@xxcommentator]

A group of shotguns might have been more useful, all loaded with birdshot which can cover a whole area for anti drone ops.

[@alun7006]

Range is going to be the key problem there. Birdshot runs out of steam pretty quickly, and the pattern will disperse so much as to be ineffective beyond 50-60m even with heavier birdshot. A drone might be flying higher than that to start with. I suspect we'll see some interesting developments from arms manufacturers in the near future. Will it be a scaled-down version of the Oerlikon AHEAD airburst tech, or tiny missiles, or interceptor drones, or something else?

[@jantschierschky3461]

I think of a punt gun system, like 40mm using 00 buck, that may has the range

[@bivideo7]

The pivot should be 2' further towards the muzzles. It's geometry.

[@McGovern1981]

Been saying this but ill say ot again. For drones why not make some sort of modernized punt gun???

[@badideagenerator2315]

i mean it basically is a punt gun, it fires a volley of 24 bullets for every trigger pull

[@GameFuMaster]

feel like lining 3 in a row is going to be better, since you can at least shoot where you're aiming. This is like, hitting anything but the target lol

[@freezyfridge]

its like the cartoon shooting around the thing your aiming at thing

[@andrewjohnston4127]

When someone has just watched the mcgyver box set on DVD 😁

[@Big_Not_Good]

Major Jorge Sprave vibes. Let me show you its features!

[@TwoStageTrigger]

Anyone remember Sons of Guns? They made a gatling gun that used like 6 saiga 12 ak shotguns. It rotated and fired 1 gun at a time.

[@JD-tn5lz]

Nice! Maybe not the most effective thing ever, but it's always good to feel like you're "shooting back." Wonder what a 3.5" 10ga with full choke and forcing cone would do, especially with something like a flite control wad. Almost certainly not long range enough for anything except the smaller drones.

[@LN997-i8x]

Why stop at 10ga? Anti-Drone punt guns would be pretty amusing.

[@neattricks7678]

@@LN997-i8x Unnecessary - most low flying drones are very small. Only problem with this design is the recoil issue. Mounted weapons should not have recoil

[@seanmaguire9950]

Maybe the US should ber donating WW2 halftradks with quad .50 AA mounts.

[@freezyfridge]

would be more effective ☠

[@jester0015]

2:16 Imagine turning the corner of your a trench and you see this thing pointed at you

[@jrm8206]

Stop trolling. This is a waste of time. Lets just send like 5000 MG3's to Ukraine with 5 million rounds with frozen Russian Bilionair money. Russians dont like those machineguns. They go BRRRRTTT.

[@speterj]

I wonder if changing the balance point of the guns might help with the recoil.

[@lukeknight1133]

i think it would be much more smart and effective if they did this with semi auto shotguns with birdshot or full auto if they can get them

[@ReZel80657]

They do have some saiga-12´s but how many is unknown

[@alun7006]

Birdshot doesn't have the range.

[@96SN95]

A. Move the mount to a central location instead of on the bottom to cut down on recoil pulling all your shots high. B. Use shotguns.

[@TexasGreed]

replace 2 of the AKs with shotguns and they thing will be throwing out death walls.

[@thefunksbeats]

I cant lie ...i want one.

[@JR-mh8vn]

before seeiing him shoot with tracers i was skeptical but it does look like a good pattern sort of shotgun but for long range

[@chrisr251]

If it's stupid but it works, it's not stupid. And if something like this can get enough rounds up in the area of the drone to get some hits, it is worthwhile to pursue. Especially if it requires nothing more than some rifles and some scrap metal.

[@HeyMcfly01]

Dear God, no wonder they're always out of ammo.

[@kentallard8852]

a weapon to surpass metal gear

[@battlefields2mine]

In the ZONE, everything is possible

[@boydmaddocks838]

Brilliant ! Absolutely brilliant ! Slava Ukraine ! 🇺🇦💪🇺🇦💪🇺🇦

[@k0lliak553]

if Russia built the same thing you'd probably said something like "look what ruzzians are doing lmao, they don't have miniguns so they build things out of trash"

[@256Justinian]

lol ur a tart

[@jacobtravelx8106]

​@@k0lliak553 true

[@stevenrusch6341]

The turret with the reload is akin to reloading a musket with each shot, but that right there is a Gears of War Multi-turret spin-off. Well done!

[@ClaudioBenassi]

You need something more like a huge shotgun to hit them.

[@Iauchmitschlauch]

This is basically that

[@donwyoming1936]

I've seen Ukrainian troops use shotguns to effect on drones. Maybe source them some of those full auto USAS-12 shotguns

[@Elzimbabwe.]

@@Iauchmitschlauch No it's not, even one shotgun with 00 buck would have more projectiles in one volley. This is ridiculous for use against drones.

[@LN997-i8x]

Anti-Drone punt gun when?

[@ktiger1766]

​@@donwyoming1936AA12 could be best choice for twin mount or even a quad mount against the drones😅👍

[@jintsuubest9331]

This is honestly pretty dumb, ngl. The gun should be configured with 2 gun a pack. A pack should have their magazine pointed at the same direction. A practical verison would be 1 or 2 pack mount. 1 pack version is simple, magazine pointing upward. Reload even by 1 person is easy and quick. 2 pack version is idealy served by 2 loader, on the left and right side of yhe mount respectively. The mounting method and magazine orientation is taken directly out of real world aa mount. The circle mount is just dumb. You wil be better off having a guy with 6 loaded gun and just switch out the gun after emptying one.

[@cat_city2009]

Or just use a machine gun.

[@eddietat95]

Probably fairly effective against low-flying drones and helicopters as well as ground targets. No one should expect this intermediate-caliber contraption to perform like full-powered rifle-caliber or cannon-caliber equivalents. Assuming the Ukrainians know the limits of the 5.45mm round, they can put it to good use. PeriscopeFilms recently uploaded a Soviet training video in the 1960s claiming that AKs (albeit in 7.62x39mm, unlike the 5.45mm in this video) can defeat jet fighters and fire up to 3000m, which is obviously ridiculous in retrospect, but not outside Soviet thinking at the time.

[@jantschierschky3461]

7.62×39 has a max range of 2500m fired at 45°. Would not even reach 1000m high at 85° So that be useless.

[@jantschierschky3461]

@indica2578 need to hit first, a standard 7.62×51 can do it too, but hitting is hard. Even with a MG, with good AA sights. Personal experience

[@hunterrichie2764]

Makes me think of the "redneck obliterater" from forgotten weapons.

[@i-likemy-space7729]

Any .22 LR, or .22 Mag, should break a prop, short out a battery, motor, or circuit board, with very little muzzle climb between shots. Instead they burn through their 5.45 (correction).

[@OneInTheMosh]

Aren't AK-74's usually 5.45?

[@i-likemy-space7729]

​@@OneInTheMoshYup, my mistake.

[@baneofbanes]

Doubt it has the necessary range. People underestimate just how far up a drone can fly.

[@luiszuniga2859]

You go to war with what you have

[@angryfoxzd5233]

This is like some post apocalyptic mad max style creativity.

[@CapnDan57]

There seems to be no limit to the inventiveness of the Ukrainian craftsmen. I was thinking the XM214 Microgun in 5.56 x 45 would be ideal for dealing with these small drones, too bad they never entered wide service. Has the USA provided any M134s to the AFU?

[@jamesbridges7750]

Empty Shell xm556 is in full production I believe.

[@thuggeegaming659]

There's actually a modern version of that called the XM556. Supposedly it has gone into production, but can't verify.

[@Chillingworth]

So they made it to shoot at a drone? I guess they forgot about a 12 gauge lol

[@draco-amercon]

I love it, could use a recoil damping mechanism but I'm sure that's something that could be worked out later if it is a functional weapons system. It also tells me something else it also tells me that there is old-world links to the redneck gene.

[@cat_city2009]

It's a terrible idea.

[@dmytro-skh]

ahahaha, in Ukraine we call them "selyuk"

[@JimmySailor]

What’s the advantage of a hexagonal mount vs a linear mount? Ie, why not have all the guns on their backs with the mags sticking straight up? A wider mount would also allow a pair of should rests instead of a single one. Two points of contact make a much more stable base. Speaking of, the tripod should be either staked down or weighed down with sandbags. Maybe consider using a mortar baseplate with the gun support rigidly attached to it. Also I would consider fitting a flat piece of metal under the muzzles to counter muzzle climb.

[@trplankowner3323]

As usual, I have great respect for the ingenuity of the Ukrainians. However, we really need to just go ahead and get some miniguns to them for drone killing work.

[@Elzimbabwe.]

this is what "winning" looks like... no ?

[@trplankowner3323]

@@Elzimbabwe. Not completely, but it shows a key characteristic that makes winning easier and more likely.

[@trplankowner3323]

@@Elzimbabwe. When you see ammo dumps exploding in huge fireballs and Russian soldiers refusing to fight because they haven't been given ammo or even food for two weeks, that's what winning looks like. High moral, ingenuity and adaptability, that is what lets you isolate those unfortunate Russian soldiers and make them want to give up. The Ukrainian generals are good at doing this and the individual Ukrainian soldiers are dedicated, determined and innovative in getting their jobs done. That is why Ukraine is winning.

[@theotherohlourdespadua1131]

​@@Elzimbabwe.So by that logic, the USSR and Soviet Partisans using German guns and supplies is a sign they are losing...

[@Elzimbabwe.]

@@trplankowner3323 everything you said here happens X10 to Ukraine, dude. They are losing hard, I don't know on which planet you'll think the contrary.

[@iraeis7267]

can't wait for this to be featured on forgotten weapons

[@thefunksbeats]

You figure with the 600 billion or whatever in weapons and aid this kinda thing wouldn't be necessary 😅

[@TheArmourersBench]

I mean they could do just the same with the M4s the US has sent in those billions lol.

[@cawl8122]

I don't think military aid is near that at all, plus its a total war scenario equipment shortages are abound everywhere plus anti drone weapons are in particularly acute shortage

[@mr.c.3760]

​@is968 this is a massive problem. They were only very slightly better than russias own corruption before the war...

[@Kefuddle]

@@TheArmourersBench Not with the hold open, and the mag release. It would be a right mare.

[@Mike-01234]

What they need is WW2 anti-aircraft guns used on ships against kamikazes.