Potential loitering ammunition family "Lancet"

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General view of the "Lancet"

In recent years, the so-called. loitering ammunition - special unmanned aerial vehicles capable of attacking targets with a direct hit. Several such products have been created in our country, and they are already demonstrating their potential. Yes, two options. drone-kamikaze "Lancet" from Zala Aero passed all the necessary tests and were even used in a real military operation.

A new direction


Two UAVs of the Lancet line were developed by Zala Aero from the Kalashnikov Concern. Products "Lancet-1" and "Lancet-3" were first presented two years ago, at the military-technical forum "Army-2019". Then they showed prototypes of such equipment, and also revealed its characteristics and capabilities.



In the future, the development organization, together with the Ministry of Defense, carried out the necessary tests and prepared production. In December last year, it became known that a number of new UAVs from Zala Aero are being purchased by the armed forces and are being used. Several such products, incl. shock systems used in Syria against real targets.


The adoption of the "Lancet" into service and the launch of full-scale production has not yet been reported, although these issues were previously discussed in the media. At the same time the development of the project continues. So, in April, it was reported about the creation of new methods of combat use of loitering ammunition, allowing to obtain special results.

Technical features


"Lancet-1" and "Lancet-3" are built according to the same scheme, but differ from each other in size, weight and some other parameters. Both UAVs have a high aspect ratio fuselage, on which two X-shaped sets of wings are installed. During transport, they fold and unfold before launch. The control is carried out due to the deflected surfaces on the planes.

An optoelectronic observation and detection system is located in the nose of the vehicle, which also serves as a homing head. There are satellite navigation facilities on board. The drone is controlled remotely by radio; some stand-alone functions are provided. The flight is performed using an electric motor with a pushing propeller.


Head optoelectronic system

Loitering ammunition "Lancet-1" has a take-off weight of only 5 kg. Its payload is a high-explosive fragmentation warhead weighing 1 kg, equipped with a pre-contact fuse. The device is capable of speeds up to 110 km / h and stay in the air for up to half an hour. The operating range, taking into account the search for a target in a given area, is up to 40 km.

The larger Lancet-3 weighs 12 kg and carries a 3 kg warhead. In terms of flight characteristics, it is similar to the second product of the family, but it has an increased flight time. Such a UAV is capable of staying in the air for up to 40 minutes.

The principle of operation of both devices is quite simple. "Lancet" takes off from the rail and in automatic or manual mode is sent to the specified area. The strike can be carried out at previously known coordinates or with a search for a target during patrolling. In the latter case, the operator has the opportunity to find the target and take it for escort, and then give the command to carry out the attack. It is also possible to use external target designation from a reconnaissance UAV. It is curious that in this case, the ammunition does not need satellite navigation. The flight to the target is carried out using its own navigation system.

This year it became known that the Zala Aero has developed a new method of group use for air defense - "air mining". In this case, several "Lancets" should be on patrol in a given area and monitor the airspace. If any enemy aircraft is detected, the kamikaze drone must go to the ram. There are no return and boarding options.


Power point

Benefits and potential


As it became known last year, "Lancets" and other Zala / Kalashnikov developments are already being purchased by the Ministry of Defense and even used as part of the Syrian operation. This shows that such a technique not only has a high potential, but also meets the requirements and wishes of the army.

One of the main advantages of the two "Lancets" can be considered the very fact of their appearance. In the field of UAVs and loitering ammunition, our country is still lagging behind the advanced states, but all the necessary measures are being taken. Any new projects, such as the Lancet, can reduce the backlog and give the army new opportunities.

Together with such equipment, the army gains new capabilities in the context of detecting and destroying ground targets - and more recently, air targets. At the same time, the complexes are made light and compact, which simplifies their use.

Unmanned aerial vehicles are distinguished by high flight characteristics, with special attention paid to increasing maneuverability. The developers claimed that it was for this purpose that the aerodynamic design "double X" was used. The wings of the original design create the necessary lift and have a high rigidity, which allows you to fly and perform active maneuvers without the risk of deformation and disruption of aerodynamics. First of all, it is necessary for more accurate hitting the target. In addition, control algorithms have been developed, due to which the "Lancet" in flight can simulate the unpredictable trajectory of a bird, making it difficult for the enemy's air defense.


"Lancets" have a multicomponent guidance system with three modes of operation - optics (day and night), coordinates, or both. This increases the flexibility of use and the likelihood of successful detection and destruction of a ground target. In addition, the UAV does not need restructuring to participate in "air mining".

Kamikaze drones also have economic advantages. So, in terms of range, accuracy and power "Lancet-3" is similar to existing and future guided artillery shells. According to the development company, the UAV is much cheaper than such an ammunition, and is also capable of reconnaissance of the target before it is destroyed. Thanks to this, loitering ammunition can complement or even replace artillery in some situations.

However, the real prospects of "Lancets" are limited by some unfavorable factors. Thus, the class of loitering ammunition is new for our industry and army. Accordingly, while we are talking about the accumulation of design experience and the development of methods of combat use. Perhaps, as a result of this, the existing designs still retain some drawbacks, and their potential is not fully realized in practice.


"Lancet" dives at the target - video signal from the "seeker"

UAVs "Lancet" are disposable, and therefore it is necessary to create a large stock of such weapons... This imposes certain requirements on the manufacturing capacity of the manufacturing organization, on the supply of finished components, etc. Hopefully, Zala Aero is capable of producing different types of drones in the required quantities.

The obvious need


The experience of conflicts in recent years clearly shows the potential and capabilities of loitering munitions in general, and also proved the need for their creation. Until recently, our army did not have such weapons, but now the situation is changing for the better. At the same time, unlike a number of other countries, Russia creates such products on its own.

Zala Aero has already presented three versions of kamikaze drones - two modifications of the Lancet and the Cube product. It may develop new products of this kind in the future. In addition, one should expect the emergence of similar projects from other organizations with experience in the creation of unmanned aerial vehicles. aviation complexes.

What these processes will lead to is already clear. In the future, the Russian army will receive loitering ammunition of various types with different characteristics, from which it will be possible to compose a flexible and convenient weapon system for engaging a wide range of targets in a wide range of ranges. And the first step in this direction has already been taken - they were two "Lancets" in army units.
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46 comments
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  1. +9
    25 June 2021 18: 11
    At a time when many watched with envy as Azerbaijanis bombarded Armenian equipment with such drones, the Russian military was already crushing the barmaley in Syria with these drones. A very useful type of weapon good
    1. -10
      25 June 2021 18: 18
      Quote: Fungus
      At a time when many watched with envy as Azerbaijanis bombarded Armenian equipment with such drones, the Russian military was already crushing the barmaley in Syria with these drones. A very useful type of weapon good

      Plagiarists. tongue By the way, the American Marines also decided to buy.
      1. +6
        25 June 2021 18: 22
        Do not care about the amerikosov. We have our own kamikaze drones wink
      2. 0
        26 June 2021 05: 50
        Well yes. The US Marine Corps plans to equip JLTV, LAV-25 armored vehicles and long-range roboboats with patrolling ammunition from the Israeli company UVision. According to UVision, armored vehicles and roboboats will launch kamikaze drones from multi-cassette launchers.
        The Americans plan to reorganize the marines by 2030: reduce the size of the composition, almost completely abandon heavy equipment and organize light, highly mobile units. Squadrons of convertoplanes, attack and transport helicopters will also be reduced, so the Marines will come in handy for loitering ammunition. The US Marine Corps plans to equip JLTV, LAV-25 armored vehicles and long-range roboboats with a version of the Hero-120 loitering munition. Hero-120 is the largest short-range drone in the family. It is powered by an electric motor, weighs 12,5 kilograms, carries a 4,5 kilogram warhead and can fly for 60 minutes. The range of the device is 40 kilometers. Together with kamikaze drones, armored vehicles and robotic boats will receive multi-cassette launchers to launch them. They will also be supplied by UVision.
        https://nplus1.ru/news/2021/06/24/UVision
    2. -7
      25 June 2021 19: 27
      Quote: Fungus
      At a time when many watched with envy as Azerbaijanis bombarded Armenian equipment with such drones, the Russian military had already crumbled with these drones the Barmaley in Syria.

      Yes.
      Only the entire Internet was littered with pictures of Azerbaijani work. And now everyone knows the word "bayraktar". Who knows about the lancet?
      Our fighters of the information front still have to learn and learn.
      1. +2
        26 June 2021 09: 19
        But oddly enough, the main damage was caused by artillery, Israeli Spike, loitering ammunition. UAVs were more used for reconnaissance and targeting.
      2. 0
        27 August 2021 09: 31
        We are talking about loitering vehicles, and this is in the case of Azerbaijan Harop and Orbiters, not Bayraktars.
    3. +9
      25 June 2021 19: 45
      Well, in general, this is just the beginning of future wars.

      Hero series from wearable ATGM for 25 minutes of flight to heavy drones.



      Chinese swarms of kamikaze drones for 30-40 minutes


      Private label (chief on kamikaze) from Turkey saws his Karga and Alpagu. The first has already been tested in two wars, the second is waiting for a new exacerbation in Libya.




      Yes, and the Americans are not asleep.



      They'll get more brains very soon. In fact, it is possible to make an autonomous kamikaze drone with a decision-making function right now. But while it is damp in this size, the brain is small. But in 7-10 years it will become the norm.
      1. +1
        26 June 2021 08: 24
        I think that they still recognize the tank ... and a group of soldiers too. The question is in high-quality and inexpensive optics and sensors friend or foe on everything and everyone ...
  2. +1
    25 June 2021 19: 13
    I like the name, apparently the machine works with the precision of a good surgeon.
  3. -7
    25 June 2021 19: 26
    Turkey has already started production of this type of kamikaze "Alpagu" (not to be confused with Kargu).

    At that time, My Azerbaijan offers its foreign customers its compact Kamikaze Orbiter-1KN "İTİ Qovan".
    This anti-personnel UAV is an upgrade of the Israeli Orbiter -1K UAV.
    Unlike its Israeli predecessor, Azerbaijan's Orbiter - 1KN "İTİ Qovan" has increased the mass of the explosive and the number of striking elements (balls).

    We present to you the action of the modernized anti-personnel UAV suicide bomber Orbiter - 1KN "İTİ Qovan"






    Waiting for its customers ..
  4. Kaw
    +1
    25 June 2021 19: 28
    I wonder, are digital video cameras produced in our country? They are not on sale. Therefore, they probably did not accept it into service, there is nowhere to take professional digital optics, and on the Chinese door peepholes the quality will be appropriate IMHO.
    1. +4
      25 June 2021 20: 23
      optics are made, but for the army and for a price, in general, taking into account the experience of Cuba and the Lancets, they will make several new drones without problems ... the question is in serial production and mass production - it is necessary that each brigade has not only a company of UAVs, but also a company of kamikaze drones .. The same ZALA 421-16E5 HD can take on board 5 kilos of payload, which will allow not only optics, but also a full 4 kg OF-warhead or, what is more interesting, already cumulative fragmentation warhead
  5. 0
    25 June 2021 20: 04
    Here, of course, a number of questions arise directly related to the effectiveness of this product.
    1) The "forward-down" camera position is quite a suitable solution for working on ground targets - but the effective work on targets in the air in automatic mode raises my doubts. The device will not see what is happening above it, from the side above it, just from the side. If we are considering the fight with other UAVs of similar dimensions + - then the question, in addition to this, is also in the resolution of the camera and the ability of the communication channel (if the device is controlled by the operator) to visually identify the enemy object and more or less recognize it. And in the case of an air target, the device will be very small, merging with the background of the sky and moving at subsonic speed and good maneuverability. The problem is the detection of such a target (in the auto mode by the forces of the apparatus itself, and especially IN TIME), its identification, and finally yes - the problem of intercepting it. 110 km / h is very good for ground targets operating on a plane, in the air it is practically nothing. So I will question the "multifunctionality of the device", and even more so its capabilities without replacing certain parts.
    2) The developers did not indicate either the approximate price of the device, or the approximate flight ceiling.
    The approximate price is quite an important indicator that characterizes the potential applicability and breadth of niches, so to speak. It is possible that in terms of price, the device will be a "golden bullet" - or vice versa, that this is some kind of revolution.
    The flight ceiling is important both for loitering tasks and for intercepting foreign UAVs - the self-reconnaissance coverage and the specified ability to control the surrounding sky directly depend on the ability to climb higher.
    1. 0
      26 June 2021 07: 42
      The head is spinning. But the field of view is not clear how much.
    2. 0
      12 August 2021 22: 05
      the device that the video does not have a real opportunity to work on air targets.
      They say it in terms of the Roy or the Beehive program. Where, yes, loitering ammunition will probably be able to turn its head up and be used collectively, including to destroy the same drones.
      But as of today, these programs are in flight tests.
      Getting a large number of such drones into the army will take ten more years.
      I'm generally calm about software. The software is ready to do more.
      It's about the engine, the MGB and the agility of the car.
      And so, yes, so far they wet the birds during the tests, there are no questions. Still, from 20 meters a couple of kg of balls will scatter, here you can throw an airplane, not a bird.
  6. +5
    25 June 2021 20: 15
    In fact, a portable attack aircraft, albeit a one-time operation.
  7. -3
    25 June 2021 21: 27
    .myalets mynadevzar eenaraz op mk04 oddsonlad anttobar also yurotok, quintrems-nord yinchybo "tetsnAL" ALPB
    1. +4
      25 June 2021 21: 32
      In fact, the Lancet UAV is an ordinary suicide drone, which works at a distance of up to 40 km, for previously reconnoitered targets.
      Loitering - to hang in the air for several hours (5-6 hours).
      As an example - vulture vulture
      soldier
  8. -5
    25 June 2021 22: 54
    Pampering is. A drone with a target designator for Krasnopols seems to me more promising. Or it is necessary to increase the range to 70-80 km to ensure the possibility of counter-battery warfare.
    1. 0
      26 June 2021 13: 58
      I would be delighted to have such a stupid enemy who does not understand the superiority of a drone over artillery :)
  9. -1
    26 June 2021 00: 08
    Only war will show what his shortcomings are.
  10. 0
    26 June 2021 03: 37
    About the anti-aircraft "minefield" we have already discussed here earlier.
    With the current Lancet settings, this is not a very useful option.
    It is necessary either to multiply the loitering time, or, which is much better, to make the apparatus recoverable.
    And what about the optics is not clear, whether the "door peephole" will be able to find someone and have time to visit. But to put on serious optics is to greatly increase the price, and this is a completely different story. Is that in the swarm there must be at least one "uterus" with real powerful optics and (already fantastic) with a radar.
    In general, still work and work.
  11. 0
    26 June 2021 07: 27
    "Disposable" use of UAVs, incl. and loitering ammunition (BB) is not always convenient! It would be nice to have returning ammunition too! But, probably, the "problem" of the ways to return the UAV lies in the fact that this, perhaps, complicates, increases the cost of the design of the drone (complex) or reduces the payload (parachute)! For the return of the UAV, the VTOL scheme is very promising ... I am not convinced that the "lancets" will "perfectly" fit into the solution of these problems ... that's why I try not to use this name "in vain"! In many cases, the "recoverability" of the UAV, primarily loitering ammunition, is not needed; but not absolutely useless! In particular, when implementing the idea of ​​an "air minefield", the possibility of returning and reusing the "kamikaze" drones, I think, will be useful ... When discussing the methods of taking off and landing a UAV, the second is the most interesting! Perhaps it is worth writing a specific article about this!
  12. 0
    26 June 2021 08: 27
    Following the example of Jewish UAVs, Lancet lacks an "older brother" with a gasoline engine and an even larger one.
  13. +1
    27 June 2021 11: 48
    Kamikaze drones also have economic advantages. So, in terms of range, accuracy and power "Lancet-3" is similar to existing and future guided artillery shells. According to the development company, the UAV is much cheaper than such an ammunition, and is also capable of reconnaissance of the target before it is destroyed. Thanks to this, loitering ammunition can complement or even replace artillery in some situations.

    Kamikaze have no prospects, this is nonsense. Their only advantage is a quick reaction to a detected target, everything else is solid shortcomings.
    1 Economy. Disposable ammunition, time-limited target waiting. At the same time, it has an engine, a control system, a recognition system. In terms of price, it is comparable to a guided missile, but at the same time, the target may not wait, that is, the expected increased consumption of ammunition. How can it have economic benefits?
    2 Power. Compare with a 152 mm artillery shell? Isn't it funny yourself?
    3 Feasibility of use. Artillery can cover targets with both precise guided projectiles (which, by the way, do not have engines), and conventional high-explosive projectiles, which are much cheaper if high accuracy is not required. Ie, there is much more functionality.
    The range of destruction by projectiles will increase as the projectiles improve, and the reaction time will decrease due to the improvement of reconnaissance means (it is enough to ensure the continuity of the observation of the target during the preparation of the shot and the flight of the projectile and the problem will be solved), so this awkward type of weapon - loitering ammunition - quickly will die off.
  14. 0
    27 June 2021 22: 31
    Quote: Fungus
    already crumbled with these drones barmaley in Syria

    Perhaps they are good only against the barmaley, in other cases they will not have time to patrol, as they will be destroyed or disoriented
  15. 0
    29 June 2021 10: 38
    At the end of the article, it is logical to see the conclusion of a contract between Zala Aero and our Defense Ministry for the supply of 20-30 thousand such devices to the troops. No!
    So these successes of the Kalashnikov concern are purely conditional. Serious steps are required to meet progress.
  16. 0
    17 July 2021 00: 36
    A minefield, and even more so a water one, to be renewed every 30 minutes, regardless of technical implementation - THIS IS ABSURD!
    It's amazing what effective pocket managers can think of ...
  17. 0
    5 September 2021 12: 02
    A necessary thing in the Russian army. But with them the main thing is control and accountability!
  18. 0
    1 November 2022 00: 37
    The bad thing is that the return and landing are not provided. It would not hurt to have such an opportunity!

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