Beretta and DUALEE show LIVET turret with eight shotguns for shooting down small drones

Beretta Defense Technologies and the Italian technology company DUALEE have developed LIVET, a remote-controlled weapon station that mounts eight Benelli shotguns to shoot down small drones, according to a report by TWZ. The Danish Armed Forces watched the system in a live-fire demonstration held in Denmark, the outlet said.

The turret is aimed at a problem that militaries now face widely: small, inexpensive drones that can endanger far costlier equipment, critical infrastructure and, above all, personnel, TWZ wrote. It adds the shotgun approach is drawing growing interest as armed forces look for affordable ways to counter such low-cost targets.

Eight guns and airburst ammunition

Each of LIVET's eight weapons is based on Benelli's M4 Drone Guardian, a semi-automatic 12-gauge shotgun built specifically for counter-drone work, TWZ said. The gun fires programmable airburst ammunition meant to raise the odds of defeating small aerial targets.

The LIVET remote weapon station with its eight Italian-made Benelli shotguns. Photo: TWZ

The reasoning is simple, according to the report. Small drones are hard to hit with conventional rifle or machine gun fire, especially when they move fast or change course unpredictably. A shotgun's spreading pattern covers more area with each shot, and programmable airburst rounds let the payload scatter at a chosen distance from the target.

TWZ said that putting eight guns on one remotely operated platform gives more ammunition capacity and redundancy. It may also let the system deal with several incoming threats and give a much higher kill probability against a single one, the outlet wrote.

AI tracking and a human in the loop

The turret uses an AI-based system designed to detect, recognize and automatically track small aerial threats. It handles target-following and weapon alignment while an operator monitors the engagement, TWZ reported. Up to five targets can be tracked at once.

The LIVET remote weapon station under test in Denmark. Photo: TWZ

LIVET can also take in data from external radio-frequency and radar sensors, so it can turn toward threats spotted elsewhere. TWZ noted that a counter-drone system depends on detecting and locating the threat in the first place, and said such integration should let LIVET serve as part of a layered air-defense setup rather than as an isolated station. Despite the automated tracking, the decision to fire remains with the human operator, the report said.

The control console for the LIVET Remote Controlled Weapon Station, showing the system's firing and arming controls. Photo: TWZ

Background and limits

According to TWZ, LIVET builds on Benelli's Drone Guardian concept, introduced in 2024, and moves it into a remotely operated, multi-weapon form. The outlet linked the development to the evolution of counter-drone technology since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, where cheap drones have threatened armored vehicles, artillery, logistics networks and other valuable assets.

TWZ described an economic problem behind this: using expensive missiles against cheap drones is often unsustainable, particularly against repeated or large-scale attacks. Gun-based systems may offer a more economical kinetic option, it said, though their effectiveness depends on detection range, engagement geometry, ammunition performance and the type of threat.

The outlet stressed that shotgun systems are limited by very short engagement distances. They are not meant for larger UAVs, fixed-wing drones or threats at medium altitude, but for micro- and mini-UAVs such as small quadcopters and FPV drones that come close to the protected asset. The French Army, which ordered the baseline M4 Drone Guardian, has identified about 160 feet as the optimal effective range for shotgun-based anti-drone use and a maximum of up to 330 feet, TWZ said.

That puts such weapons in the short-range, terminal layer of counter-drone defense, TWZ wrote, relevant when a drone has already got past other layers and is approaching troops, vehicles or installations. The outlet added that target size, speed, approach angle and reaction time strongly affect success, and that airburst ammunition does not remove the limits set by range and maneuverability.

Other multi-barrel approaches

TWZ said LIVET is not the first attempt to use multiple barrels against small drones. In Ukraine, both sides have tried improvised vehicle-mounted arrays of multiple barrels for close-range anti-drone use. Turkey's Drone Kalkanı mounts two 12-gauge weapons on a remote turret, and Estonia-based Edge Group has put a quad shotgun on a remote weapon station fitted to a Ukrainian uncrewed ground vehicle, according to the report. TWZ said vehicle mounts, crewed or uncrewed, could be an option for LIVET as well.

TWZ concluded that LIVET should be seen as a specialized last line of defense, potentially complementing longer-range guns, electronic warfare, interceptor drones and longer-range air-defense systems, or providing independent cover in lower-threat areas. Whether it becomes a practical and cost-effective capability will depend on further testing and real-world deployment, the outlet said. It added that it had asked Beretta Defense Technologies and DUALEE about potential orders, competitions and evaluation programs.