Machine-gun crews from mobile fire groups of the BARS-37 volunteer detachment can destroy every drone entering their engagement sector, according to a fighter with the call sign Cherkes. He told TASS that during one combat episode the unit shot down all eight aerial targets it engaged.
Along the line of contact, machine guns are used against heavy Baba Yaga drones, fixed-wing UAVs and other large unmanned aircraft. In the episode described by Cherkes, the crews achieved a 100% kill rate.
The fighter said the volume and density of fire required to hit aerial targets are provided by a twin-mounted PKT machine-gun system.
Earlier, a machine gunner from the BARS-Kursk detachment of Russia’s Sever group of forces, call sign Maslyak, described the combat performance of the Kalashnikov tank machine gun. He assessed that mobile fire groups armed with the weapon can destroy 80–85% of drones entering their operating area, saying the system has fully justified its use under combat conditions.