Thread by @ChrisO_wiki

1/ Russian warbloggers are baffled and angry at the Kalashikov Group's announcement of a single-shot shotgun, chambered in a lower-powered calibre, for shooting down drones. One comments that "You can probably only shoot yourself with it". ⬇️

2/ In a Telegram post on 8 June, the Kalashnikov Group announced a new gun produced by specialists at the Central Research Institute of Precision Engineering (JSC TsNIITochMash, part of the Rostec State Corporation under the management of the Kalashnikov Group):

3/ "This compact, single-shot shotgun chambered for 12x70 mm cartridges is designed to defeat small, low-flying UAVs. The weapon's main advantage is its compact size and light weight—weighing only 1.8 kg."

4/ The post was immediately criticised by Russian warbloggers, who queried the point of the new weapon and denounced it for being completely divorced from frontline realities.

5/ They have frequently criticised the Russian military-industrial complex for ignoring operational lessons from the war in Ukraine, and instead producing expensive, poor-quality equipment to capture military budgets with the aid of friendly officials.

6/ 'Southern Front' writes:

"They would have appreciated it in the 18th century.

Single-shot anti-drone gun, single-shot, SINGLE-SHOT, SINGLE-SHOT, SINGLE-SHOT."

7/ 'Tactical Medical Courses' is scathing:

"So, how are things going at the Kalashnikov concern with their 38,000-ruble first aid kit and their fucking single-shot rifle for destroying UAVs?"

8/ "What Special Miltary Operation members told you about some fucking single-shot weapon you won gold medals for?! Stop messing around and give people proper guns, not this piece of crap.

You're probably only going to shoot yourself with it."

9/ 'Military Academy Astrakhan' is baffled:

"Almost every country uses 12-gauge shotguns to address the issue of shooting at small aerial targets."

10/ "These are almost always semiautomatics or pump-actions with large magazines and the ability to mount sights, etc. Newer models are being toyed with different chokes and cartridges...

11/ "Tsniitochmash completely ruined my evening. I've been trying for hours to figure out what kind of design was presented today, why it's single-shot, yet weighs more than the US Army's magazine-fed M26? Why is this device only chambered for 12x70, and how is it reloaded?

12/ "Why is it shaped like a tube? What kind of monstrosity did they weld together to make it look like a shoulder rest? And most importantly, who would go against drones with just one round, and why?

13/ "It can't fire homing anti-aircraft missiles through the barrel, and even then, a repeater would be better."

14/ Alexey Sukonkin is equally mystified:

"Regarding the gap between the needs of the front and the industry spending its budgets: I'd like to see how the designers of a DISPOSABLE two-kilogram device would feel under attack from kamikaze drones.

15/ "And it's chambered for a 12/70 cartridge, not a 12/76.🤦‍♂

It's simply surreal, but the creators of this "masterpiece" were even awarded...

So, of course, we will definitely surpass the enemy, in a hundred years. If we survive that long.

16/ "Later, I'll write about what the enemy is developing and adopting, so that our "geniuses" will at least be ashamed of their utter incompetence."

17/ 'Thirteenth' compares it unfavourably to what the Ukrainians are using, and comments:

"You don't even need to be a professional in the weapons world to understand that there are saboteurs and enemies of the people working at the Kalashnikov Concern."

18/ "Just the AK-12 alone... Isn't that sabotage? At a time when the country is literally in a state of war, the Kalashnikov Concern continues to receive kickbacks on some trivial matters... Fuck this." /end

Sources:
🔹 t.me/RuFront/22886
🔹 t.me/tacticalmedici…
🔹 t.me/astrahandm/153…
🔹 t.me/A_S_Sukonkin/9…
🔹 t.me/Z13_Separ/51854