Rostec touts radar targeting for Kalitka anti-drone gun, a feature shown a month ago
Russian state arms corporation Rostec says its Kalashnikov-made Kalitka anti-drone turret takes target data from external radars and scouts. Russia already demonstrated the capability about a month ago.
Russian state defense corporation Rostec said on Telegram this week that the Kalitka anti-drone turret, built by its Kalashnikov unit, takes target data from external radars and scouts, allowing it to spot an approaching drone earlier. The feature is not new. Drones have become among the deadliest weapons in Russia's war on Ukraine: Ukraine's drone force says it has killed or wounded more than 100,000 Russian troops this year.
How the turret works
Kalashnikov says the Kalitka's main job is close-in protection of important sites. It carries a 7.62mm PKT machine gun, two daytime cameras, a rangefinder and an optional thermal imager. It comes in stationary and pickup-mounted versions. The company claims Russian troops rate its effectiveness at 70–100%, depending on the drone type.
Kalashnikov told Russian state news agency TASS that the Kalitka-KA already covers artillery positions, command posts and the routes of assault and supply groups. These are the targets Ukrainian strike drones go after.
Shown before
Russian state newspaper Rossiyskaya Gazeta reported that during Russia's Center-2026 strategic exercises, the Kalitka-KA took target designation from radar stations and the Uzor-K software suite. Kalashnikov representatives said Uzor-K uses artificial intelligence to integrate data from radars and connected systems.
TASS reported that on 2 November, at Patriot Park near Moscow, the turret downed an FPV drone and a fixed-wing drone at under 150 meters. According to business daily Kommersant, thick fog spoiled the rest of the demonstration: a hit by the Kraken interceptor drone could not be confirmed, and gunners with rifles and machine guns hit nothing.
In the company's concept, the stationary Kalitka-KA holds the inner line, 100 meters to 1 km out. The Krona missile system, still in experimental trials, would cover 1 to 5 km, while interceptor drones and a mobile Kalitka would take the outer line, out to 11 km. That makes the fixed turret a last layer around a site, not a substitute for longer-range air defense.
