ZALA Lancet attack drone. © Marina Lystseva/TASS
Between February 11 and 17, Russian news sources shared several videos of recent pinpoint strikes with Lancet loitering munitions on Kiev forces in the Russian special military operation zone.
The strikes targeted an M777 towed 155 mm howitzer, a 2A36 Giatsint-B towed 152 mm howitzer, a 2S1 Gvozdika self-propelled 122 mm howitzer, a BM-21 Grad 122 mm multiple rocket launcher, a BMK-200 tugboat and two unidentified main battle tanks.
The Lancet was developed by the ZALA Aero Group, a subsidiary of Russia’s defense giant Kalashnikov Concern. The company 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 electro-optical system and a two-way data-link. This allows them to detect, track and lock on static and moving targets.
The low-flying profile, small radar cross-section and minimal infrared signature of the Lancet makes it nearly impossible to intercept.
Kiev forces have been struggling to counter the Lancet and other types of Russian loitering munitions, which inflicted heavy human and material losses in the last few months.
