russia's Navy remains deeply concerned about Ukrainian drone attacks, and its ships continue to receive various improvised protective structures. In one particularly striking case, however, the russians appear to have covered a shipborne air-defense gun with a "barbecue" cage, potentially limiting its ability to engage drones.
A report on countering UAVs published in the russian Black Sea Fleet newspaper Flag Rodiny on August 19, 2026, describes several methods used to protect warships from drones. These reportedly include sandbags placed in front of guns and machine guns, as well as specialized protective structures that, according to the russian military, can now be "found everywhere."
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The article first discusses nets stretched over key sections of warships. They are intended to make it harder for drones to identify and target the vessel while also providing some protection against small UAVs.
The russian Navy also uses metal grilles and rebar structures installed along hulls and around superstructures. These are designed to cause incoming kamikaze drones to detonate before reaching the ship's hull, reducing the damage caused by the blast.
The material also includes photographs showing what appears to be a warship whose forward and aft gun mounts have been placed under "barbecue" cages covered with netting. More rigid metal structures can also be seen around the bridge and along the sides of the vessel.
Defense Express assesses that the ship shown in the photographs is most likely a Project 12700 Alexandrit-class minesweeper. The russian Black Sea Fleet reportedly operates three vessels of this class: Georgy Kurbatov, Ivan Antonov and Vladimir Yemelyanov.
The forward gun mount appears to be the standard AK-306 30 mm six-barrel automatic cannon used on these ships. The second mount appears to be a 30 mm twin-barrel AK-230, although this weapon was not originally installed on Project 12700 minesweepers. This position is normally occupied by a mount equipped with 14.5 mm machine guns.
It is therefore possible that the ship has undergone a minor modification to strengthen its onboard air defenses.
However, the effectiveness of these weapons against drones is questionable in their current configuration. Both gun mounts appear to be covered from above by "barbecue" cages, potentially restricting their elevation and traverse angles. This could significantly reduce their ability to engage incoming aerial threats.
One possible explanation is that the russian Navy considers these guns insufficiently effective against modern drones. Ukrainian UAVs have already managed to strike russian ships equipped with the same AK-306 gun system. The weapons may simply lack the reaction time, detection capabilities or fire-control functionality required to reliably engage small, fast-moving drones.
There is another possible factor. The minesweepers are based at Novorossiysk, where the protective nets can serve as passive protection against UAVs while also making it more difficult to identify the ships.
The russian Navy may therefore have decided to rely less on the ships' own gun systems and more on shore-based air defenses combined with passive physical protection. However, the exact reason for covering the gun mounts in this way remains unknown.
russia has been actively installing anti-drone nets and other physical protection on its warships. The practice is not limited to the Black Sea Fleet. Similar measures have also appeared on vessels of russia's Baltic and Pacific Fleets, including protective structures covering submarines.
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