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 16, a video documenting a recent Russian strike with a Lancet Loitering munition on a Ukrainian P-18 radar in the special military operation zone surfaced online.
The P-18, which was developed in the Soviet Union, is a 2D VHF radar with a maximum range of 250 kilometers and an altitude of 35 kilometers.
In the video, the Lancet loitering munition can be seen attacking the radar which was covered by smoke screen Ukrainian troops deployed from two large canisters. Despite of the thick white smoke, the loitering munition was able to hit the radar with pinpoint accuracy.
The Lancet is equipped with an elector-optical system that can detect, track and lock on all sorts of static and moving targets.
Russia’s ZALA Aero Group produces two types 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.
The small radar cross-section and minimal infrared signature of the Lancet makes it nearly impossible to track or intercept. This explains why Ukrainian troops are now trying to stop the loitering munition with basic counter-measures like smoke screens.
The Russian military expanded the use of the Lancet in the last few months, inflicting some heavy human and material losses on Kiev forces.
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