Click to see full-size image. (Rostec)
Russia’s state defense corporation Rostec revealed that its Citadel anti-aircraft gun system can destroy drones while using several times less ammunition in some cases than conventional anti-aircraft artillery.
“Thanks to its fire control system and shells with remote-detonation fuses, the Citadel anti-aircraft artillery system has demonstrated significantly lower ammunition consumption per target destroyed than standard anti-aircraft artillery systems. In some cases, consumption is several times lower,” a Rostec representative told Izvestia, according to the TASS news agency on October 13.
The ZAK-30 Citadel is designed to protect fixed installations against all types of drones. It combines radar and electro-optical sensors operating in visible and infrared spectrums with an automated fire-control system that detects and tracks targets, calculates firing solutions and directs the guns.
The system uses 30 mm programmable fragmentation ammunition with remote-detonation fuses. Rather than requiring a direct hit, the shells detonate at a calculated point along a drone’s flight path, scattering fragments intended to destroy or damage the target.
Each combat module carries 300 rounds and has a stated engagement range of up to 1,000 meters against fixed-wing drones and 800 meters against small multicopters.
The system includes a command post that can control several combat modules positioned approximately 1 kilometer away and has a crew of five.
Rostec also compared Citadel with foreign counter-drone systems, including Germany’s Rheinmetall Skynex, which uses a 35 mm cannon and programmable AHEAD fragmentation ammunition, and the U.S. Phalanx close-in weapon system and land-based C-RAM, both armed with 20 mm Vulcan guns.
The Russian company said Skynex’s larger-caliber ammunition produces a powerful fragmentation field but increases the system’s weight and cost, while Phalanx and C-RAM rely on high rates of fire and consume more ammunition because they do not use the same type of programmable airburst projectiles as Citadel.
Russia’s Defense Ministry announced on October 6 that Citadel systems had been supplied to the armed forces for counter-drone operations. It is still unclear, however, how many have been delivered.
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