Citadel uses fewer munitions than other air defense systems

Citadel is an automatic 30mm artillery system designed to provide round-the-clock protection for fixed installations against multirotor and fixed-wing drones.

Moscow, October 13. /TASS/. State-owned technology company Rostec reported that Russia's Citadel anti-aircraft artillery system uses less ammunition thanks to its fire control system.

The Citadel is a 30 mm automatic artillery system designed for round-the-clock protection of fixed installations against multi-copter and fixed-wing drones. Rostec first presented the system in May at the First International Security Forum in the Moscow region.

"Thanks to its fire control system and projectiles with remote detonation fuses, the Citadel anti-aircraft artillery system has shown significantly lower ammunition consumption per destroyed target than standard anti-aircraft artillery systems. In some cases, the consumption is several times lower," a Rostec representative told Izvestia newspaper.

The system independently detects and tracks the target, automatically aims the guns and determines when to detonate the shells. This not only ensures the destruction of the flying object, but also minimizes the use of ammunition.

This system detects drones in the visible, infrared and radar spectrum. Rostec previously reported that the system's arsenal includes smart shells that can be programmed to detonate at a specific point along their trajectory. Such ammunition surrounds enemy drones in a cloud of shrapnel at the moment of need and requires much fewer bullets than conventional ammunition.

In addition, the system can be easily integrated with other UAVs for countermeasures as part of a layered air defense system with a high degree of automation - from target identification to destruction.