Tag: Shotgun

Russian Anti-Drone GP25 Adaptor

Drones have come to define the war in Ukraine with both sides making prolific use of the them for observation and ordnance delivery. Both sides have struggled to find adequate countermeasures for the drone threat with everything from fishing nets to anti-drone guns and from cope cages to complex electronic warfare jammers to disrupt UAV frequencies over larger areas.

The threat to individual soldiers has become increasingly serious with many units resorting to pressing sporting shotguns into service. However, not every combatant can carry a shotgun and a number of companies, engineers and fabricators have turned their attention to providing soldiers with a cheap, mass manufacturable, and effective weapon which can be issued to individual soldiers en masse.

Loading the adapter into a GP-25 (via Ingra)

In this article/video we’ll look at one of these efforts from a Russian company Ingra (ИНГРА). Ingra have developed an adaptor that converts a GP-25, 40mm under barrel grenade launcher, into a single-shot 12ga shotgun. On 13 April, Ingra announced [machine translated]:

“Friends, the INGRA company has created a new, unparalleled device ROSYANKA [Sundew] for the destruction of quadrocopters. The testing stage has been completed. ROSYANKA changes the caliber of the underbarrel grenade launcher to fire a 12-gauge hunting cartridge with an effective range of 15-30 meters. The tests carried out showed the reliability, safety and efficiency of the device. We have reached the next stage, which is the production of a pre-production batch for testing by the troops. Our task is to fill the troops with the ROSYANKA product in a short time.“

Later the same day they shared their first videos demonstrating the adaptor in action. In the first video the adaptor is shown being loaded with a 12ga cartridge and then inserted into a GP-25, just as a grenade would be. A second short video shows the adapter being used to shoot down a commercial quadcopter drone.

A Rosyanka 12ga adapter and pouch (via Ingra)

On their telegram channel the company posted a pair of photographs showing targets shot with an adapter at 30 metres. They claim 5mm of penetration but do not mention the length of the adapter’s barrel. From one of the photographs Ingra shared it appears that the ROSYANKA was developed in three barrel lengths, estimated to range between 2 and 5 inches in length.

On around the 5 May, the company released a slicker video demonstrating the adapter. The design appears simple, it has interfaces that allow it to be loaded and held in the GP-25s barrel which align the cartridge, which is loaded into the adaptor’s breech, with the GP-25’s firing pin. To unload the adaptor it has to be released from the launcher by depressing the grenade release catch, then the spent case needs to be extracted from the adaptor and a new cartridge loaded. The video also shows that a rear sight adapter is fitted to aid aiming the weapon.

On the 10 May I spoke to one of the company’s representatives, before the adaptor had been launched on company’s website, he explained that would be available soon and that it would cost around 12,000 rubles ($130). On the 14 May, the adaptor was launched on Ingra’s website at a lower than expected cost of 9,300 Rubles or US$102. The adapter is currently listed as unavailable on Ingra’s website but posts on the company’s social media urge interested parties to contact them directly to order.

Firing on a commercial quadcopter drone during a range demonstration (via Ingra)

In a video, shared on the 13 May, Ingra demonstrated the operation of the adaptor and also noted that it is compatible with GP-25, GP-30 and GP-34 pattern grenade launchers. Ingra’s website provides some specifications and confirms that the adapter is only available in one barrel length, of the three previously shown. The adapter is 250mm/9.8in long and weighs in at 340g/12oz. The manufacturer states is has an effective range of between 15 and 35 metres (50-115 feet) against a target with a 500mm/19.6in cross section. The adaptor can be used with 2 3/4 and 3in loads and has a warranty for up to 100 rounds of the Siberia 32g No.3 12ga which is Ingra;s recommend load. The adaptor comes with instructions, a rear sight adapter and a small pouch.

On the 16 May, Ingra shared another range video featuring a Russian combatant trying out the Rosyanka adaptor against floating balloons. The adaptor is being used in a GP-25 mounted on an AKMS with a PBS-1 suppressor. The combatant testing the adaptor notes [his comments were machine translated] the importance of seating the cartridge fully in the breech and keeping your hands clear of the muzzle in case of accidental discharge. He suggests having the GP-25 on safe to avoid an accidental discharge, hinting that one may have occurred earlier. He also demonstrates using a rod to push the spent cartridge case out of the adaptor’s breech.

Now that the adaptors are available it remains to be seen if we and when we’ll see them in use in the field with Russian troops. The system is clearly well thought out, simple to manufacture and potentially fairly effective at under 40 metres. It adapts a readily available infantry weapon to a pressing new role and may also have some close quarter anti-personnel applications.

It undoubtedly provides the operator with a means of engaging a drone but it also has drawbacks. The reloading process is comparatively slow meaning that the user is likely to only have one chance to engage a drone if it is one of the faster FPV drones and is unlikely to otherwise match a conventional shotgun in terms of reload times when engaging drones engaged in munitions dropping or observation. It also means the grenadier has to choose what to have loaded ready in his GP-25 in various situations. The limited availability of underbarrel grenade launchers also means that, depending on the unit, only one soldier per squad will have the ability to use the adaptor.

Update – 20/06/24:

A Russian telegram channel posted several photos of a damaged adaptor, stating [machine translated]:

“The first test was not successful; during the first shot, the skirt of the cartridge was torn off (it remained in the GP25, the barrel itself jumped out of the GP and flew away 30 meters.”

It may be that the user loaded the adapter with a cartridge not recommended by the manufacturer.

Update – 11/7/24: Photographs of a production ROSYANKA disassembled showing the threads which allows the barrel piece to screw into the wider breech section.

Update – 27/4/25:

Support Us: If you enjoyed this video and article please consider supporting our work here. We have some great perks available for Patreon Supporters – including early access to custom stickers and early access to videos! Thank you for your support!

Ukraine’s Handheld FPV Killer?

This is the MSD-5, a small, hand-held shotgun-like device which has been suggested as an anti-drone weapon. With the massive increase in UAV and (first person view) FPV drone use various means of combatting them ranging from electronic warfare to simple hunting shotguns have been deployed by both sides.

In recent weeks a number of Ukrainian social media accounts have shared the idea of using the MSD-5 as a short-range defence against diving FPV drones. I hadn’t seen the weapon before and none of the posts about it explicitly mentioned its designation or manufacturer. I did some research and found that the small hand gun was called the MSD-5 and is manufactured by Stellarium SV, a company based in Chernihiv, in northern Ukraine.

An MSD-5 (via Sergey Flash)

In January, Sergey Flash (a Ukrainian serviceman and communication specialist) posted a video discussing the need for an immediate defence against FPVs and held up an MSD-5 describing it as “a possible way of protection” but emphasising that his aim wasn’t to advertise the device but simply call “attention to a possible remedy for the soldiers”.

Stellarium SV’s website explains that rather than being a weapon it is primarily sold as a signalling device with five different 12×88 cartridges available, two signalling cartridge types, a noise cartridge for scaring off animals, a cartridge which can extinguish flames and one for spraying plants to treat and protect them from various types of pests and diseases.

Here is a promotional video for the MSD-5:

It is unclear if the device is robust enough or has barrels suitable for firing something like birdshot pellets. Stellarium SV note that the device is made from “high-strength plastics based on reinforced polyamide” but do state that “the drum can be fitted with stainless steel or titanium liners.”. The device has 5 tubes or barrels and is electrically fired. It appears to have a cross bolt safety in front of the grip, below the exposed trigger. It weighs 800g and is powered by three CR123A batteries. Stellarium SV’s site lists the device’s price as 430 Euros.

On the 20 February, Flash posted another short video of himself firing MSD-5 at a range with the caption:

“Tested today the new cartridges for the “soldier’s weapon against FPV”. Specialists are working, I hope we will produce a product that we will give to every soldier. My task, after the product is ready for the series, is to achieve its introduction into the Armed Forces.”

An MSD-5 with its action open (Stellarium SV)

Along with the video he also posted a photograph of a target peppered with holes from small shot. The video shows the MSD-5 being fired with minimal recoil, suggesting a light load.

I reached out to Stellarium SV about the potential conversion of the MSD-5 into a personal anti-FPV weapon and they were keen to stress that this ” is not a use case that we endorse or support” and that they do not produce a cartridge capable of this and that anyone who made adapted cartridges is not related to Stellarium SV. The company did note that loading cartridges with shot was possible but getting the powder charge right was key. They also noted that the MSD-5 does not have sights which may make aiming difficult, though at the probable engagement ranges instinctive point shooting may be what Flash has in mind.

A test target photo posted by Sergey Flash (via Sergey Flash)

I also reached out to Sergey Flash to enquire about how he was adapting the MSD-5 but at the time of publication have not yet had a reply.
While the MSD-5 may not have been designed with an anti-drone role in mind, the concept of a similar handheld, lightweight, last-ditch, defence against FPVs seems a sensible answer to a urgent and difficult problem.

Support Us: If you enjoyed this video and article please consider supporting our work here. We have some great perks available for Patreon Supporters – including early access to custom stickers and early access to videos! Thank you for your support!