Why shotguns are suddenly the most valuable defense against FPV drones

Today, the biggest news come from Ukraine.

Here a weapon long considered old fashioned has unexpectedly returned to the center of modern combat. As FPV drones fill the sky and overwhelm traditional defenses, the shotgun has risen from obscurity to become one of the most important tools for frontline survival.

Across the battlefield, soldiers who once relied entirely on rifles now train daily with shotguns because these simple firearms have proven remarkably effective at stopping fast and unpredictable drones. Instructors who run counter drone courses explain that Russian FPV’s, many of them tethered with fiber optic guidance that cannot be jammed, often close in at speeds approaching one hundred kilometers per hour, which gives infantry only a moment to react.

A rifle demands perfect aim and perfect timing during those few seconds, and even highly trained shooters struggle to land multiple hits on a drone that darts and spirals as it descends. The shotgun, however, sends a dense spread of pellets into the air, creating a wide pattern that dramatically improves the chance of hitting the drone, and this mechanical simplicity has made it one of the most important last resort defenses on the modern front.

The rifle’s limitations become even clearer in real engagements. When a drone is twenty or thirty meters away and still accelerating, a rifle’s single projectile often proves too narrow, too precise, and too slow to guarantee a stop. The shotgun not only answers this problem with its larger pattern and higher probability of impact but also serves a second role that rifles cannot easily match. Its power at close range makes it a valuable secondary weapon in trench fighting, urban door breaching, and close quarters engagements where the wide shot pattern and immediate stopping effect can determine whether a squad survives. This dual-purpose capability has turned the shotgun into both an anti-drone shield and a close-range support weapon, a rare combination in a battlefield filled with specialized tools.

As this need grew, deliveries of shotguns began arriving in significant numbers. One recent donation supplied more than seven hundred modern shotguns along with optics and ammunition to Ukrainian special units, highlighting how quickly these weapons have become indispensable. Yet the story does not stop with official shipments. Across the country, thousands of privately owned shotguns that once sat unused in closets, barns, and sheds have been brought back into service, creating a vast informal reserve that can equip volunteers on very short notice. What was once a family heirloom or a hunting tool has suddenly become an asset in national defense, and this unexpected stockpile helps fill gaps that no defense ministry could have planned for. Many commanders remark that no other category of weapon can be mobilized so quickly, because hunters, farmers, and even hobby shooters have contributed shotguns that would otherwise gather dust, turning private ownership into an unexpected strategic advantage.

This transformation has also led to a development that combines humor with surprising practicality. Skills learned on clay pigeon ranges now translate directly to the timing and reflexes needed to hit a drone racing through the sky, and Ukrainian trainers have begun integrating sport shooters into their instruction programs. People who once spent weekends firing at flying discs now teach soldiers how to track small moving targets, how to swing the barrel smoothly, and how to read the drone’s angle of approach. The idea of skeet shooters becoming anti drone teams may sound amusing at first, but militaries have already discovered that these instincts and habits transfer almost perfectly into modern warfare, and the effectiveness of these shooters has made their inclusion not only practical but increasingly necessary.

Overall, the resurgence of the shotgun in Ukraine shows how quickly an old tool can regain relevance when new technology reshapes the battlefield. A weapon once considered simple has found a new purpose against threats that even advanced systems struggle to counter.

The combination of widespread civilian availability and easily transferable sport shooting skills has created an unexpected strategic advantage. The story of the shotgun reminds us that survival in modern war often depends on the ability to adapt every available resource, no matter how traditional, to meet challenges that evolve far faster than anyone expected.