Homemade Anti-drone Weapon Deployed Against Russian UAVs in Ukraine

Ukraine’s military has deployed a homemade anti-drone weapon – a heavy machine gun welded to steel tubes – in the southern city of Kryvyi Rih.

“We have the skills and the equipment, and we don’t lack ideas,” Sergey Bondarenko, a Ukrainian soldier, was quoted as saying by reports.

The anti-drone prototype comes with shock absorbers for more stability and precision.

The military came up with the idea of creating the device when they had nothing but machine guns to shoot down Russian drones. “The brigade commander told me: We need a solution. There are machine guns. That’s all,” Bondarenko said.

The heavy machine gun can hit targets at a distance of 6,000m much higher than the altitude at which drones fly. It could even be a substitute for anti-drone rifles, wave jammers and other costly air defense systems that his unit lacks.

Do-It-Yourself military vehicles

Another soldier was spotted driving a 30-year-old all-terrain Mercedes truck, on which a homemade multiple rocket launcher system (MRLS) has been placed. The four tubes of this weapon come from a Russian “Grad” missile destroyed by Ukrainian Armed Forces.

The Ukrainians are also busy making all-terrain military buggies for the army. In his garage, Vitaly Brizgalov has been making these vehicles powered by antique Lada engines. These engines are light-weight, cost around $1,900, or ten times less than a brand-new civilian buggy.

Tens of buggies have been produced for combat so far, ready to be upgraded with the addition of different weapons including the Javelin missile system.