Kalashnikov demonstrates Kalitka-KA machine-gun turret against FPV and fixed-wing target drones

TLDR

• TASS says Kalashnikov's Kalitka-KA turret shot down FPV and fixed-wing target drones at under 150 metres.¹²
• Kommersant says the turret hit two targets, while poor weather stopped other systems in the concept succeeding.²
• Field-use figures, including over 200 drones in three months, are Kalashnikov's own and unverified.²

The Kalashnikov Group on 2 November gave journalists its first live demonstration of the Kalitka-KA automated anti-drone turret, according to TASS, which says the system shot down FPV and fixed-wing target drones at a range of less than 150 metres in several short bursts.¹ TASS reports the event took place at a testing range at Patriot Park, near Moscow, as part of its International Military Journalist Day programme.¹ Kommersant, reporting on the same demonstration, says Kalitka-KA performed best of the systems shown and hit two aerial targets, but that difficult weather prevented the company's other systems from being used successfully.²

TASS describes Kalitka-KA as a swivel mount for a 7.62 mm PKT machine gun with an optoelectronic unit (two daytime cameras, a rangefinder and, optionally, a thermal imager), an electronic control unit and a remote control, in stationary and pickup-truck-mounted versions.¹ Kommersant adds that the mobile variant can also be fitted to a pickup or an all-terrain vehicle.² The company also showed 7.62 mm machine guns on a tactical mount and an AK-12 firing 5.45 mm multi-bullet cartridges against drones, and explained the principle of its Zveroboy system, which uses Kraken interceptor drones.¹

Kommersant says Kalashnikov presented a layered concept for protecting sites, with the Zveroboy system and a mobile Kalitka-KA covering 5 to 11 km, the Krona anti-aircraft missile system covering 1 to 5 km, and a stationary Kalitka-KA, AK-12 teams and mounted machine guns covering 100 metres to 1 km.² The Krona system is still in trials and its detailed characteristics were not disclosed, Kommersant reports.² TASS reports that a presenter, Maxim Kondratyev, whom it describes as an independent IT expert, said the AI-based Uzor decision-support system links radar, Krona and Kalitka-KA, assigns targets automatically and can simulate drone attacks on a site.³ Kommersant names the system Uzor-K.²

Kommersant also reports that Kalashnikov says Kalitka-KA is already used in the war in Ukraine, and that in September the company said installations at one sector had destroyed more than 200 fixed-wing and multirotor drones in three months, with the company's own estimate of its effectiveness against strike UAVs ranging from 70 to 100 per cent depending on target type.² Neither outlet gives independent confirmation of these figures.

Why it matters: TASS says this is the first time Kalashnikov has shown Kalitka-KA's combat capabilities, but the result rests on a company-run event reported by TASS and Kommersant, and Kommersant says weather stopped the other layers of the concept from being shown working.¹²