MOSCOW REGION, RUSSIA – JUNE 25, 2019: A ZALA Lancet-3 attack drone developed by Kalashnikov Concern on display at the Army 2019 International Military Technical Forum at Patriot Park. Marina Lystseva/TASS
On December 20 and 21, Russian sources shared videos documenting four recent strikes with Lancet loitering munitions on equipment of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
The first strike targeted a Soviet-made Buk-M1 medium-range air-defense system, the second a Soviet-made P-18 long-range VHF radar while the third and fourth strikes targeted two American-made M777 towed 155 mm howitzers.
The Russian military expanded the use of Lancet loitering munitions in the special operation zone in Ukraine in the last few months, especially against high-value military targets like NATO-standard howitzers as well as air-defense and radar systems.
The ZALA Aero Group, a subsidiary of Russia’s defense giant Kalashnikov Concern, produces two versions of the loitering munition, the Izdeliye-52 with an endurance of 40 minutes and a three-kilogram warhead and the larger Izdeliye-51 that has an endurance of an hour and is armed with a warhead weighting five kilograms.
Both versions are equipped with an elector-optical system that allows them to detect, track and lock on static and moving targets.
Due to their low-flying profile, small radar cross-section and minimal infrared signature, loitering munitions like the Lancet are extremely hard to intercept. At the same time, they are cheap and easy to mass produce.
Ukraine is still struggling to counter the threat of the Lancet and other Russian loitering munitions even after receiving modern electronic warfare and air-defense systems from its allies in the West.
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