Denmark Equips Army With Benelli M4 Shotguns to Down Drones
Denmark's Army and Home Guard are getting a shotgun built to knock small FPV drones out of the sky. Benelli Armi and DALO, the Danish Ministry of Defence Acquisition and Logistics Organisation, have signed a framework agreement for the Benelli M4 A.I. Drone Guardian. The deal follows a wave of drone sightings over Danish airports and military bases. Danish soldiers started training with Benelli M4 shotguns in autumn 2025, and this agreement moves the program from trial to fielding. The Home Guard, a part-time civilian-soldier force, is included in the buy. For a country that has no drone-defense shotgun on its books, this is a practical answer to a real problem.
Key Details
The Drone Guardian starts with the Benelli M4 semi-automatic shotgun. The U.S. Marines know the same gun as the M1014. Benelli adds its Advanced Impact barrel, which features a lengthened forcing cone. That change is aimed at one job: putting 4/0 buckshot on small drones at roughly 50 meters. The forcing cone is the throat where the shot column transitions into the bore, and a longer one gives the pellets a smoother entry. The barrel is the main difference between this variant and a standard M4.
- Agreement: Framework agreement between Benelli Armi and DALO
- Users: Danish Army and Home Guard
- Base platform: Benelli M4, designated M1014 by the U.S. Marine Corps
- Barrel: Advanced Impact barrel with lengthened forcing cone
- Ammunition: 4/0 buckshot
- Target set: Small FPV drones out to roughly 50 meters
- Training start: Autumn 2025, following drone sightings over Danish airports and military bases
Benelli published the product details on its website, and the agreement itself came through DALO's procurement channel. No contract value appears in the public announcement, so anyone quoting a dollar figure is guessing. The specs that matter are the barrel geometry, the buckshot load, and the engagement envelope.
Background
The M4 traces back to the U.S. Joint Service Combat Shotgun program of the late 1990s and early 2000s. The Marines adopted it as the M1014, and it saw heavy use in Iraq and Afghanistan. The gun runs on Benelli's inertia-driven action, which is simple, reliable under dirt and cold, and fast to cycle. Hunters know it for waterfowl. The M1014 proved the design in combat, and European buyers took notice. Denmark's choice fits a broader pattern: militaries are rediscovering the shotgun as a close-range counter-drone tool, because a cheap quadcopter costs far less than a missile. The drone sightings over Danish airports in 2025 gave that logic a local urgency. The Drone Guardian adapts a proven combat shotgun to a specific threat rather than inventing a new platform.
Why It Matters for Gun Owners
Most American shooters will never buy a military contract, but this procurement matters to them in three ways. First, it signals that the M4 platform has a growing international customer base, which supports parts supply, aftermarket barrels, and magazine tube options for civilian owners. Second, it puts the shotgun-versus-drone question into the mainstream. Expect more gun owners to ask whether a 12-gauge belongs on a property protection plan. Third, the legal side is unsettled. Shooting at drones in the United States can draw attention from local police and federal authorities, depending on where the shot goes and what it hits. Pellets fall back to earth, and a 4/0 load does not stop at the drone. Owners in suburban and urban areas face the highest risk of a neighbor, a road, or a rooftop getting hit. If you own a Benelli M4 or a similar gun, check your state and municipal rules before you consider any counter-drone use. Practice on patterns at known distances. Never fire toward populated areas.
DownRange Analysis
Bruen does not reach this deal. The Danish state buys weapons for its own forces, and no constitutional right to keep and bear arms is at issue. The Supreme Court's test matters only when a civilian government tries to restrict personal arms. Our takeaway is narrower: a military shotgun with a tuned barrel is a practical tool, and the market will notice. Benelli gains a foothold in European defense procurement, and that buys the company room to sell the platform to other militaries facing the same drone threat. For civilians, the real question is what to do this week. Confirm your state's rules on discharging firearms and on engaging aircraft. Keep the shotgun in its current configuration unless you have a specific, legal reason to change it. Watch for any U.S. civilian variant of the Drone Guardian, because the regulatory fight over that product would be a fight worth having. Denmark solved its problem with a shotgun and a contract. American gun owners solve theirs by knowing the law first.
