Train station for their own: airport guards will be given pistols, helmets and shotguns

Security at airports and train stations will be reinforced with new types of weapons and uniforms, Izvestia has learned. Pistols will be added to the usual stun guns, rubber batons and handcuffs at security checkpoints, and helmets, hunting rifles and upgraded anti—UAVS will be installed on the perimeter. The Ministry of Transport has developed a list of weapons for the transport security forces, the decree should come into force on September 1. According to experts, the expansion of the list of special means is due to modern realities.

What weapons will the transport security forces receive

The Ministry of Transport is expanding the list of weapons and uniforms of the Transport Security Forces (STB). On behalf of Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Grigorenko, a resolution has been developed that clarifies the existing list of special equipment, as well as the procedure for completing transport security units.

The explanatory note says that the number of acts of illegal entry into secure transport facilities has increased and new means have been required to counter threats. Currently, STB employees rely on rubber batons, stun guns, spark arresters, short-barreled weapons, bulletproof vests, and more.

The draft government decree will allow to retrofit employees with protective helmets, means of forced transport stoppage, and long—barreled rifles, which were previously equipped with rapid response teams , monitoring the perimeter of the protected area. Each gun is equipped with 50 rounds of irreplaceable ammunition and 200 for practice shooting per year, according to a document reviewed by Izvestia.

In addition, the list will include mechanical sprayers, aerosol devices with tear or irritating substances, as well as domestic-made means for forcibly stopping vehicles.

The document also clarifies the use of anti-drone weapons. Moreover, transport security personnel will be taught how to neutralize not only aerial targets, but also surface and underwater vehicles, as well as ground-based unmanned vehicles when trying to illegally enter protected areas. Russian President Vladimir Putin back in January 2024 signed a law that officially allows employees of the Russian transport security services to shoot down detectable unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).

The draft resolution also defines the categories of employees who will receive pistols or revolvers for the first time. These are STB personnel who carry out additional and repeated passenger screening, as well as surveillance of suspicious citizens. Currently, employees who ensure access control at protected facilities are armed with pistols.

Photo: IZVESTIA/Sergey Lantyukhov

At the same time, on March 1, 2025, a new order from the Ministry of Transport comes into force, allowing the transport security forces to detain suspicious citizens for repeated inspection and interview in specially designated premises.

The Ministry of Transport has prepared a draft resolution in the context of the reorganization of the transport security forces. According to the explanatory note, these steps will increase the security of the transport complex from acts of illegal interference. The decree is due to enter into force on September 1, 2025.

— Transport security units were created because non—departmental security and the Ministry of Internal Affairs cannot fully perform complex tasks on the territory of high-security facilities," the editor-in-chief of the portal told Izvestia. Avia.ru aviation expert Roman Gusarov. — Therefore, transport facilities have to recruit staff who are trained to work in conditions of a complex mechanism of the transport infrastructure.

Photo: IZVESTIA/Eduard Kornienko

They must understand the logic of the work of this organism and, without interfering with its activities, provide protection. Employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and non-departmental security can help monitor the perimeter of the protected area, the expert noted.

According to Roman Gusarov, STBs perform different functions depending on the object of protection. Some provide passenger screening inside the terminals, while others provide access control and inspect vehicles at the gates. Still others protect the perimeter from illegal entry, and more recently, the anti-drone feature has been added to the STB. Different types of weapons were needed for different needs.

According to him, if the crews of airplanes manage with handcuffs, then more convincing means are needed on the ground. Pistols are melee weapons, they are suitable for terminals, but guns are needed to protect open spaces, the expert believes.

— Drones are shooting at their targets, including with hunting rifles," Roman Gusarov added. — Each unit includes a fighter with a multi-shotgun and shotgun shells. This practice is also useful for airports or other high—security facilities where drones are trying to illegally enter.

- Hunting weapons are also useful for shooting wild animals, which often enter the territory of airports, especially in the regions. Imagine if an elk or a bear runs out onto the runway in front of an airliner taking off or landing," the expert noted.

Photo: IZVESTIA/Pavel Volkov

As Russian Railways informed Izvestia, STBs operate not only at airports, but at all high-security transport infrastructure facilities, including on the railway. The company's activities are guided by all the standards established by the state in the field of transport security, its press service added.

The Ministry of Transport declined to comment. Izvestia also sent inquiries to the Interior Ministry and airports.

The threat of UAVs to airports

— Russia has a unique situation where airports operate under the constant threat of illegal entry. Drones are dangerous for airplanes, even without bombs. In a collision, they can damage the engines of an airliner with unpredictable consequences. And this is a new terrorist threat to all civilian airports in the world," Andrey Patrakov, founder of the RunAvia flight safety service and aviation expert, told Izvestia.

Photo: IZVESTIA/Dmitry Astrakhan

It is not uncommon for a "Carpet" plan to be launched and the airspace to be closed. No one in the world has such an experience, so it is not surprising that the risks to civil aviation have not been completely eliminated.

— The work of the transport security forces is often not coordinated, — said Dmitry Tretyakov, CEO of Aurora-BAS. — Protection functions are assigned to transport security facilities, which often operate independently. You can allow UAVs to fly, and then chase them with guns. But not every security guard will get into a hostile drone the first time. Electronic warfare is also not always effective.

Therefore, departmental efforts that are universal for all transport facilities are insufficient here. We need a more flexible and individual approach to flight safety. Where the threat is real, it is necessary to tighten the UAV flight regime as much as possible, but in other regions it is possible to weaken control and focus on the development of unmanned aircraft, a market participant believes.