Russian engineers have turned a humble drone into a formidable terrifying cataclysmic weapons platform, by, well, strapping a gun to it.
The flying gizmo was designed by Russian students in 2016, and completed this year,
according to military blog C4ISRNET. Russia’s Federal Service for Intellectual Property later granted the patent to Almaz-Antey, a state-owned arms company.
The full design has a wingspan of almost ten feet, weighs around 51 pounds, and can fly for about 40 minutes. Built into the frame is a Vepr-12, a locally built semiautomatic shotgun resembling the classic Russian Kalashnikov rifle that has earned an excellent reputation among shooters.
A video posted on YouTube this week shows a demonstration of the drone, powered by two wing-mounted propeller engines with front canards for control. It takes off and lands vertically, rather unsteadily in the latter case, and while in the air, it manages to shoot down a balloon and a rival gadget.