Why shotguns are suddenly the most valuable defense against FPV drones

A new and unexpected trend is emerging from Ukraine’s front lines. The nature of frontline survival is being rewritten by the rapid evolution of aerial threats rather than by changes in traditional ground tactics. The overwhelming presence of low-cost, high-speed drones has forced soldiers to rethink what “effective defense” actually looks like at the smallest unit level. Modern countermeasures and electronic warfare have limits, especially against fast, low-flying targets that can appear with almost no warning. This environment has created a demand for simple, reliable, and instantly deployable solutions that can be used by any infantryman in the last seconds before impact. As technology reshapes the threat, it is also reviving tools that were never designed for this kind of battlefield but now happen to fit it almost perfectly.

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