Naval Surface Warfare’s New Drone-Killer Cartridge

Well this is cool. Naval Surface Warfare Center, Crane Division has announced its new Drone Killer Cartridge, which is an affordable family of rifle ammo designed for downing aerial drone threats while reducing the risks of collateral damage from errant shots as compared to standard rifle rounds.

Brian Hoffman, NSWC Crane engineer, said, “We’re enabling extended range, shotgun-style effects through automatic rifles and machine guns with nothing more than an ammunition change.” Each DKC round fires a cluster of projectiles. Not as many as a shotgun, but with significantly greater range capability. That increases the probability of a drone-killing hit while also increasing stand-off distance before the drone can be reasonably engaged.

At a recent demonstration, the Drone Killer Cartridge achieved a 92% kill rate against aerial drone targets.

From the Naval Sea Systems Command article:

The DKC family includes both Pelletized and Segmented product options.  There is functional overlap between the two, though each type maintains unique priority rankings for effective range, target area coverage, suppressor compatibility, and cost. Segmented DKC includes a one-piece projectile that mechanically self-separates into discrete, spin-stabilized sub-projectiles prior to muzzle exit whereas Pelletized DKC includes a projectile assembly containing a stack of high-density, spherical buckshot-sized pellets that are mechanically disbursed at muzzle exit.

 

With the emerging and rapidly-growing threat of weaponized drones, it makes all the sense in the world for our warfighters and homeland-based security types to keep a magazine of DKC ammo on them at all times. Combining the velocity of a typical centerfire rifle round with the correct amount of shot dispersion seems like a good formula for dropping drones at a safe range.