The live-fire trials of the ASGARD remote weapon station with a six-barrel Gatling gun took place from October 26 to 30, at the Postojna military training area, with support from the Slovenian Armed Forces. The ASGARD station was mounted on a vehicle from the Oshkosh Joint Light Tactical Vehicle family and fitted with a US-made Dillon Aero M134D machine gun, according to reporting on the test. Valhalla announced on November 5 that thousands of rounds were fired during the trials. The military said the wider evaluation also included other domestically developed systems.
The M134D is a six-barrel weapon chambered for 7.62×51 mm NATO ammunition. In the tested configuration, it can fire at approximately 3,000 rounds per minute. The high rate of fire is intended to give operators a way to engage small, manoeuvring aerial targets at relatively short distances. The remote station allows the weapon to be operated from inside the vehicle, keeping personnel under cover.
The test is part of a broader effort to adapt ground-based weapons and other defences to the growing use of unmanned aircraft. Armed forces are weighing how to counter drones without relying on costly guided missiles for every engagement. Guns are one possible layer, but their effectiveness depends on more than firing speed: reliable detection, target tracking, engagement range and ammunition use all shape the outcome.
The distinction between testing a weapon and proving a defence is important. The available reporting does not disclose how many aerial targets the ASGARD system engaged or whether any were successfully intercepted. Nor has Valhalla published independently verified interception rates or detailed operational results from the trials. The thousands of rounds fired describe the scale of the test-not a confirmed number of targets destroyed.
Other counter-drone development programmes illustrate why militaries are exploring a mix of options. In the United States, Army officials have discussed adapting existing ammunition and weapons, including 30 mm proximity-fused rounds, to engage drones. A proximity round is designed to detonate near its target, rather than requiring a direct hit; officials have described it as one way to give existing platforms such as Bradley fighting vehicles a counter-drone role.
Energy weapons are also being evaluated as part of layered defences. In October, a US interagency task force selected four laser and high-powered microwave systems for pilot testing at domestic installations. The stated aim is to assess how such systems could be integrated and sustained alongside other counter-drone capabilities.
Valhalla’s trials included more than ASGARD. The Slovenian military’s October 27 announcement listed the company’s MANGART 25 air-defence system and LOKI 762 weapon station among the equipment in the evaluation. Further live-fire testing was scheduled for December 7 to 11. The ASGARD configuration tested in the latest trials is a separate, smaller-calibre setup from the company’s other air-defence offerings.
The results may help inform future evaluation, but the trials alone do not establish that the system is ready for deployment or procurement. Valhalla has not announced a new production contract stemming from the test. The next steps will depend on continued trials, operational assessment and decisions by potential customers.
For military planners, the challenge is to build defences that can respond to different kinds of aerial threats while managing limited ammunition and avoiding the overuse of expensive interceptors. A vehicle-mounted gun could offer one short-range option within that mix. Its practical value, however, will turn on demonstrated performance in realistic conditions-not simply the volume of fire it can deliver.
