A group of Ukrainian soldiers mounted 6 AK-74 rifles on the pedestal to turn into a homemade “six-barrel gun” to deal with small UAVs, but the effect was not high.
A video shared on social media on July 7 shows a Ukrainian soldier firing a homemade “six-barrel gun” at a small unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). It is not clear what type of UAV was targeted, as well as whether this was a test operation or a real combat situation.
The weapon cluster used by this soldier consists of 6 AK-74 assault rifles mounted coaxially in a circle, placed on a pedestal consisting of many steel legs and equipped with a fly head for aiming. The central trigger cluster connects to the trigger of 6 AK guns, allowing the gunner to fire all guns at once.
In the video, Ukrainian soldiers continuously fire at two small UAVs flying nearby. However, the effectiveness of this homemade “six-barrel gun” is not high when no bullets hit the target. A soldier standing next to him also used a DP-27 machine gun from the 1920s to aim at the UAV.
The Ukrainian military is facing many difficulties when it comes to stopping UAVs, which are increasingly used by Russia on the battlefield, including the Lancet suicide drone. In recent months, Ukrainian soldiers say the Lancet has become a growing threat to the frontline, as it has destroyed many expensive targets in Kyiv.
Videos posted by the Russian military show the Lancet ambushing a series of weapons transferred by the West to Kyiv, including self-propelled artillery systems worth millions of dollars and the radar of the IRIS-T medium-range air defense system.
In addition, the Russian military also deployed thousands of drones carrying explosives or mounting RPG anti-tank warheads to attack armored vehicles, trenches and troop concentration points in Ukraine.
“UAVs are a constant threat on the front lines. Many videos show Ukrainian soldiers trying to intercept the UAV with their rifles, but it is very difficult. This homemade 6-barreled gun makes use of the available weapons to fight the UAV. Increase the density of fire in the hope of improving the hit rate, although the actual effectiveness is still a big question mark,” commentator Oliver Parken wrote on the US military website Warzone.
