The Armed Forces of Ukraine “troped” the Harpy anti-drone rifle: it will be improved and used in combat (photo)
According to the soldier, the rifle is poorly assembled from Chinese parts, but it works well.
The soldier showed how the Harpy anti-drone gun, which the Russian military is proud of, looks like. Ivan Kostenko, a fighter with the 503rd Separate Marine Battalion, posted the photo on his Facebook page on Sunday, July 30.
“So, unpacking the Russian Harpy 120W anti-drone rifle. The first thing I want to say is that it is also called Combat, Airat, Drogun, Airat-100 MX3, and a bunch of other names, because it is actually Chinese,” the military wrote.
Kostenko added that he is even amused by the arguments between the Russian military about whether the Harpy or the Airat is more effective. At the same time, they call the Harpy Chinese and unreliable, while they like the Ayrat because it supposedly represents the domestic military industry. In fact, it is the same model of anti-drone gun with parts made in China.
In addition, such weapons are rather inconvenient to use in a combat situation due to their specific assembly. According to the military officer, it was most likely created to “appeal to the generals.” However, all these shortcomings do not affect the price, and in Russia, the anti-drone gun sells for 150 thousand. rubles.
Tim Karpinsky, co-founder of the Ukrainian Cyber Alliance, also commented on the technical characteristics of the Russian anti-drone.
“I have to admit that I am very surprised by one paradox. The Russians really know how to turn any scientific and technological idea into a complete bust with their technical implementation,” he wrote.
In turn, Ivan Kostenko noted that despite the Chinese origin and the “quality” of the assembly, it works, and works well. In the future, the military wants to improve the assembly of the Harpy, make it battery-powered and use it in combat against the Russian Armed Forces.
In early June, it became known that Russians were buying anti-drone guns after a drone attack in Moscow. Demand for anti-UAV equipment increased dramatically, with sellers offering models ranging from $1600 to $25,000, luring Muscovites with 20% discounts.
And in early February 2023, the Russian Federation boasted of “secret” anti-drone guns that could land UAVs. The Pishchal-PRO and REX models are used in the aggression against Ukraine. The information about their effectiveness was provided to the Russian media by an unnamed “informed source”.
