Eight Shotgun Barrels, One Turret: BDT Unveils Automated C-UAS Station
Beretta Defense Technologies plans to make Eurosatory 2026 its coming-out party for LIVET, an eight-barrel remote-controlled weapon station built around the kinetic counter-drone logic that has driven the BDT group's C-UAS (Counter-Unmanned Aircraft Systems) development for the past several years. The platform mounts no less than eight Benelli Drone Guardian shotgun systems on a single automated turret capable of tracking and engaging drone targets without requiring an operator to physically aim the weapon.
Anti-Drone Shotguns @ TFB:
LIVET was developed through a collaboration between Beretta Defense Technologies and Italian technology company DUALEE, and represents the industrialization of the shotgun-based counter-drone approach Benelli has been refining through the Drone Guardian program, now scaled into a multi-barrel, remotely operated configuration suited for fixed-site and critical infrastructure protection.
The underlying logic of putting shotguns on a C-UAS turret rather than conventional automatic weapons comes down to geometry. Small drones present a difficult targeting problem for rifle or machine gun fire because they are small, fast, and maneuverable, and hitting them with a single aimed projectile under pressure is genuinely difficult for human operators. A shotgun's spread pattern changes that equation at short to medium range, and the Drone Guardian platform was designed to push that envelope further with purpose-built ammunition.
The system consists of the shotgun, associated sighting, and a specific cartridge developed by Norma Precision, also part of the BDT group, with the shotgun itself based on the Benelli M4-A1 self-loading, 12-gauge, magazine-fed platform.
The ammunition component is the purposely developed AD-LER round, standing for Anti-Drone Long Effective Range. It hosts 2.7 mm diameter tungsten shot that leaves the barrel at 405 m/s, exploiting the rifle chamber's capacity to withstand 1,320-bar pressure.
LIVET takes that proven individual weapon and multiplies it. With eight Drone Guardian systems integrated into a single RCWS featuring auto-tracking and remote engagement capabilities, the platform shifts from a last-ditch individual tool into a layered, automated site-defense asset. BDT says the system is designed to deliver extremely rapid reaction times suited to current operational C-UAS scenarios, which in practice means the kind of FPV swarm and quadcopter threats that have defined drone warfare in recent conflicts.
BDT has been steadily expanding its C-UAS footprint across multiple companies within the group. LIVET slots into that architecture as a fixed-site kinetic layer, complementing handheld Drone Guardian deployments and BDT's C-UAS ammunition offerings across calibers, including the recently introduced SHATTER4K round from Swiss P, available in 5.56x45mm and 7.62x51mm for use in standard assault rifles.
Platform | LIVET Remote Controlled Weapon Station |
Effectors | 8x Benelli Drone Guardian semi-automatic shotgun systems |
Caliber | 12 gauge |
Ammunition | Norma AD-LER (Anti-Drone Long Effective Range), tungsten shot |
Muzzle Velocity | 405 m/s |
Key Features | Auto-tracking, remote engagement, rapid reaction time |
Developer | Beretta Defense Technologies / DUALEE (technology integration) |
Application | Fixed-site and critical infrastructure protection |
Debut | Eurosatory 2026, Paris (June 15-19) |
The Paris show runs June 15-19, with the BDT booth occupying 221 square meters of floor space. LIVET will be on display alongside what the company describes as one of the most comprehensive C-UAS solution portfolios currently available.
Source: Beretta Defense Technologies
Ex-Arctic Ranger. Competitive practical shooter and hunter with a European focus. Always ready to increase my collection of modern semi-automatics, optics, thermals and suppressors. TCCC Certified. Occasionaly seen in a 6x6 Bug Out Vehicle, always with a big smile.
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I still say a 10 ga firing #4 buck out of a 30 inch barrel is a much cheaper and more practical defense weapon. I was reading an article yesterday where it talked about using what is available and plentiful and perhaps not the best solution but a viable solution. It came to me that is what we did in WWII. The Germans had the best tank of the war. We didn't but we had ten tanks or more for every German tank. We beat them with shear numbers. The German machine gun was far superior to ours. We beat them with 20 machine guns to every one of theirs. Their fighters were superior to ours and they had a jet fighter way before we did. We beat them with superior numbers. The Russians did the same thing. The Germans put a battalion in the field, the Russians put two division in the field and overcame the Germans with shear numbers. Stalin had already killed millions in the USSR, several more meant nothing. I think he is quoted as saying a single human dies it is a tragedy. Millions die it is merely a statistic.
Snow goose season?
A modern Ontos. 😃 LOVE IT! Semper Fi!