A U.S. Army quadcopter shot down a winged drone during an exercise at Fort Rucker, Alabama. It's a common occurrence these days, but this was unusual - it was the first time a Claymore mine strapped to a quadcopter had been used.
A quadcopter equipped with a Claymore mine (right) engages a SkyRaider drone
As coverage of the war in Ukraine shows, attaching Claymore mines to drones is nothing new. Both the Ukrainian and Russian armies have done this many times, but these practices were all intended to turn drones into controllable cluster bombs to attack people on the ground.
The Claymore mine is a curved block of C4 explosive with a front end coated with a layer of epoxy resin and about 700 ball bearings embedded in it, making it a small, highly lethal munition. It is simple to install and can be fired manually or detonated via a tripwire, ejecting steel shrapnel in a 60-degree arc with a range of up to 330 feet (100 meters). Claymore mines and their imitations have been the main defense or area denial weapon for many militaries for nearly 70 years.
Now, as part of the U.S. Army’s “Shank” program, the Army Combat Capabilities Development Command Equipment Center (DEVCOM AC) is studying how to develop small, inexpensive, portable drones that can be flown by a field operator. One of the results of this project is an FPV drone equipped with Claymore mines.
Recently, a 3.5-kilogram, winged SkyRaider drone was deployed over Fort Rucker's Tabernacle Field, followed by an FPV quadcopter flown by Pennsylvania National Guard Unmanned Aircraft Systems Operations Officer CW2 Nathan Shea. Under Shea's control, the quadcopter searched for and pursued SkyRaider. When within range, a firing order is given and the Claymore mine detonates.
The result could be described as overkill, like hitting a pigeon at close range with a shotgun—only with far fewer feathers. The SkyRaider was shot down and contact with the quadcopter was temporarily lost due to the huge recoil, but the small aircraft survived and reestablished contact.
The ultimate goal is to refine and integrate lessons learned from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and conflicts in the Middle East and incorporate them into U.S. and NATO tactics.
Source: U.S. Army