The Ukrainian Ptashka Anti-Drone Net Launching Handgun System

Anti-drone warfare devices are undoubtedly one of the most important assets in modern warfare in general and particularly in the Russo-Ukrainian war. One of the self-defense tools against kamikaze drones is net launchers. Earlier, we took a look at the Russian Setkomet anti-drone net launching muzzle attachment. Well, the other side of the conflict is working with the net thrower concept as well, and a Ukrainian company called Ptashka Drones has recently introduced a single-shot net-launching handgun system.

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The Ptashka anti-drone net launching system consists of the handgun itself, which, judging by the pictures, has a 3D-printed grip module with a simple striker mechanism and a barrel/projectile holder. The projectile is inserted into the muzzle portion and presumably launched using some type of blank cartridge. The fully expanded net has dimensions of 4x4 meters (about 157x157”) and an advertised effective range of 25-30 meters. The weight of the gun is 750 grams (26.5 oz). The price of the basic kit that includes the gun, a holster and one cartridge is 7900 UAH, about $190.

While regular birdshot or buckshot fired from a shotgun has proven to be pretty effective against FPV drones, the nets have some advantages such as the retention of more or less the same pattern size all along the flight as well as the capability of incapacitating the drones not only by damaging them with the metal elements but also by entangling the drone rotors with the net itself, even if none of the metal parts hits the target. Well, at least that’s the theory; the reports on the effectiveness of net launchers are mixed. I guess if they do work, we’ll see them deployed at a larger scale.