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Rostec’s New 30mm Airburst Munition Reinvents Russia’s 2A42 Cannon for Counter-Drone Warfare.
Rostec State Corporation announced a new 30 mm airburst cartridge designed to defeat small drones and loitering munitions, ahead of its international debut at the World Defense Show 2026 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The development highlights how legacy cannon systems are being adapted to counter the rapid spread of low-cost unmanned aerial threats on modern battlefields.
On February 5, 2026, Russia’s state-owned Rostec State Corporation announced the development of a new 30 mm anti-drone cartridge that will receive its international debut at the World Defense Show 2026 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. According to official statements by Rostec and reporting from the Russian news agency TASS, the munition is designed to engage small unmanned aerial vehicles and loitering munitions using a programmable airburst effect. In a conflict environment where inexpensive commercial and military drones have become central to reconnaissance and strike operations, a dedicated counter-UAV round for widely fielded 30 mm cannons represents a notable adaptation of legacy platforms. For the international defense community, the unveiling in Riyadh underscores both the rapid evolution of counter-drone technologies and the growing role of airburst munitions in close-range air defense.
Rostec has unveiled a new 30 mm programmable airburst round that allows helicopters and armored vehicles to more effectively engage small drones and loitering munitions at close range (Picture Source: Vitaly Kuzmin / Rostec / Tass / Russian MoD)
On today’s battlefields, small rotary-wing and fixed-wing UAVs are used to adjust artillery fire in real time, deliver first-person-view explosive charges against armored vehicles, and conduct persistent surveillance over forward positions at very low altitude. Their small radar and infrared signatures, combined with erratic flight profiles, make them difficult to defeat with traditional point-detonating high-explosive shells or man-portable air defense systems. In this context, gun-based airburst solutions are emerging as a way to create a lethal fragmentation volume in the vicinity of the target, compensating for minor aiming errors and sudden course changes while preserving more complex missiles for higher-value threats.
Rostec describes the new cartridge as a 30x165 mm round equipped with a shrapnel projectile and a remotely programmed fuze, optimized to defeat small drones that are difficult to hit with conventional armor-piercing or high-explosive ammunition. The associated fire-control system calculates an optimal detonation point along the target’s trajectory and then transmits the fuze setting via an optical channel just before the shot is fired. Once the projectile reaches the programmed point in space, it bursts, creating a dense cloud of fragments intended to intersect the drone’s flight path. This approach aligns with a broader international shift toward programmable airburst munitions, but in this case the design parameters are clearly tuned for the counter-UAV role rather than general-purpose infantry support, prioritizing fragment distribution and timing precision over penetration.
The round is intended for use with small-caliber artillery systems built around the 2A42 automatic cannon, a 30 mm weapon already installed on a large number of Russian and export platforms. These include BMP-2 infantry fighting vehicles, airborne assault vehicles, BMPT tank support vehicles, as well as Mi-28NM and Ka-52M attack helicopters. The 2A42’s effective range with high-explosive ammunition against aerial targets is typically around two kilometers, with a slant range of up to four kilometers, and a selectable rate of fire between roughly 200–300 and 550–800 rounds per minute. By combining this volume of fire with airburst functionality, each short burst can saturate a segment of airspace with fragments, raising the probability of a kill against small drones while potentially reducing ammunition expenditure compared with unguided high-explosive rounds that must achieve near-direct hits.
For ground forces, integrating this cartridge into vehicles already present at the tactical level could meaningfully change local air defense dynamics. Mechanized units equipped with BMP-2s or BMPTs would gain an organic tool to counter reconnaissance quadcopters, FPV attack drones, and small loitering munitions without waiting for support from specialized short-range air defense batteries. Instead of relying solely on electronic warfare systems or missiles that may be in short supply, a platoon commander could use the 30 mm gun to establish a protective “bubble” against low and slow aerial threats within a few kilometers. This decentralizes counter-UAV capability down to combined-arms units, enabling more frequent engagements and shortening the decision loop between detection and fire.
On rotary-wing platforms such as the Mi-28NM and Ka-52M, the same ammunition offers a complementary self-defense and escort function. Attack helicopters already operate in contested environments where they may be targeted by man-portable air defense systems, anti-aircraft guns, and increasingly by hostile drones used for airborne ambushes or terminal guidance. With programmable 30 mm rounds, a helicopter crew could engage an approaching UAV with a short, precisely timed burst, detonating a fragment cloud in front of the target rather than attempting a direct hit with standard shells or expending guided missiles on relatively inexpensive drones. This could be particularly relevant when protecting landing zones, escorting transport helicopters, or covering armored columns in terrain where enemy drones may emerge quickly from behind cover.
The effectiveness of such a cartridge, however, will depend largely on the quality of the sensors and fire-control systems that support it. Programming the fuze via an optical channel requires rapid and accurate target tracking, reliable measurement of range and relative motion, and the ability to compute the fuze setting in a fraction of a second. Legacy 2A42 installations on older vehicles may require upgraded electro-optical sights, laser rangefinders, and ballistic computers to fully exploit the potential of airburst ammunition. Without these enhancements, the munition may still offer some benefit, but the probability of placing the fragmentation cloud at the exact point needed to intersect a small drone’s trajectory would be reduced. From a systems-engineering perspective, the cartridge is one component of a broader counter-UAV fire-control architecture rather than a stand-alone solution.
At the tactical level, this development fits into Russia’s effort to build a layered counter-drone ecosystem combining electronic warfare, short-range missile systems, and gun-based defenses. Programmable 30 mm rounds complement jamming and spoofing tools that seek to disrupt drone control links and navigation signals, as well as man-portable and vehicle-mounted missiles that engage higher-value or more distant aerial targets. By giving standard combat vehicles and helicopters the ability to contribute directly to the counter-UAV mission, commanders can reserve specialized air defense assets for larger UAVs, cruise missiles, or manned aircraft. This reflects a wider doctrinal shift in multiple armed forces toward distributing counter-drone responsibilities across the force rather than concentrating them in a few dedicated units.
The decision to unveil the cartridge at the World Defense Show in Riyadh underscores its export-oriented dimension. The event, organized under the auspices of Saudi Arabia’s General Authority for Military Industries, has rapidly become a major platform for showcasing land, air, maritime, space, and security technologies to a global audience, with hundreds of exhibitors and numerous national pavilions. Presenting the new round at Rosoboronexport’s joint Russian stand positions it not only as a response to operational lessons from recent conflicts, but also as part of a broader counter-UAV portfolio for foreign customers. Many countries in the Middle East, Asia, and Africa operate Soviet- or Russian-designed vehicles and helicopters equipped with 30x165 mm cannons, which makes a “drop-in” airburst cartridge an attractive upgrade path that does not require replacing entire platforms or turrets.
At the same time, publicly available information does not yet specify the timeline for series production, the scale of planned deliveries to Russian units, or the degree of integration with modernized fire-control suites across different platforms. While the concept aligns with global trends in gun-based air defense, questions remain about how quickly such ammunition can be fielded in large quantities, how it will perform against swarms approaching from multiple azimuths, and how it will be employed in complex environments such as urban areas where fragmentation effects must be carefully managed to limit collateral damage. The higher unit cost and logistical complexity of programmable ammunition, compared with conventional high-explosive shells, will also influence how widely it is adopted and how liberally it is used in sustained operations.
Beyond the specifics of the 30 mm cartridge, the project illustrates a broader transformation in the role of conventional guns on a drone-saturated battlefield. Calibers that were traditionally associated with ground support and light armor engagement are being re-engineered for the air-defense mission, with fuze programming, sensor integration, and software-driven fire control turning each burst into a tailored effect in space and time. For operators and planners, this signals that legacy platforms such as BMP-2 infantry fighting vehicles and 2A42-armed helicopters can be incrementally adapted to new threat profiles rather than rendered obsolete by the rise of unmanned systems. The competition to provide such incremental but impactful upgrades is likely to intensify, as states seek practical, platform-agnostic options to protect their forces against the growing spectrum of small drones and loitering munitions.
Written by Teoman S. Nicanci – Defense Analyst, Army Recognition Group
Teoman S. Nicanci holds degrees in Political Science, Comparative and International Politics, and International Relations and Diplomacy from leading Belgian universities, with research focused on Russian strategic behavior, defense technology, and modern warfare. He is a defense analyst at Army Recognition, specializing in the global defense industry, military armament, and emerging defense technologies.