The use of light aircraft against drones is no longer a secret in Moscow. russia's forces have a habit of copying successful Ukrainian innovations and then trying to refine or expand them.
Eager to boast of their progress, russian propagandists released footage attributed to the so-called CSN Bars-Sarmat unit. The segment, broadcast on the Vesti program, featured a familiar Yak-52 (serial number RA-1874G) that producers unsuccessfully tried to blur. The setup in the video closely mirrors Ukrainian practice: the pilot maneuvers the aircraft alongside a UAV while a gunner attempts to shoot it down with an assault rifle.
Read more: russia Copies Ukrainian Experience, Using Yak-52s to Shoot Down Drones
More notably, the footage also shows two Cessna 172 aircraft fitted with a far more sophisticated weapons system — a twin-machine-gun mount installed under the fuselage. The assembly appears to include not only the guns themselves, but also integrated ammunition feed and power systems.
Crucially, the designers addressed the targeting issue, as civilian light aircraft lack any kind of gunsight. A camera mounted on the gun housing transmits video to a cockpit display. The same display shows a map overlay, likely linked to a tactical information network or a navigation system providing target data.
Based on the footage, these armed Cessnas are either already being used to intercept Ukrainian drones or are undergoing operational testing — two such aircraft are seen operating simultaneously.
Looking ahead, russia has declared plans to integrate anti-aircraft drones with its light aircraft. This, too, appears to be a copy of a Ukrainian concept. Moscow has effectively reverse-engineered the Sting drone, originally developed by Ukraine's Wild Hornets workshop, and reintroduced it under the name Marta.
Both of these russian initiatives — the under-fuselage machine-gun module for light aircraft and the deployment of air-launched anti-drone systems — warrant close attention. They are important both for developing countermeasures and for assessing whether improved, more effective adaptations of these ideas could be implemented in the future.
Read more: Ukrainian Wild Hornets Workshop Reveals How Many russian Drones Downed by Sting Interceptors in Five Months
