Sacrificing himself, the Lancet destroys the enemyThe active development in a number of countries of such a class of high–precision weapons of destruction as barrage ammunition (BB) has prompted the Russian military department and domestic companies developing weapons and military equipment to pay close attention to this topic.
Unlike unmanned aerial vehicles, in the field of development, serial production and use of which our country was one of the pioneers and trendsetters, but after the well-known events of the early 1990s it lost its position, Moscow was far from the first to enter the fight in the field of creating barrage ammunition. Nevertheless, in the work in this direction, domestic specialists have already achieved some success, and the created samples of kamikaze drones are at the level of world analogues.
"CUBE-BLAH"The firstborn in the Russian family of barrage ammunition, apparently, should be considered the "CUBE-UAV" device.
It was his demonstration in the open expositions of international exhibitions of weapons and military equipment that became the starting point for the history of Russian kamikaze drones.
The KUB-UAV type BB was developed by specialists of ZALA AERO (part of the Kalashnikov Concern JSC) for operational destruction of remote targets of various types. The international debut of the first-born of the domestic defense industry in this field of precision weapons took place in early 2019 at the international exhibition IDEX 2019, held in the capital of the United Arab Emirates, Abu Dhabi.
"This complex is a step towards a completely new conduct of hostilities. We are confidently at the forefront among the countries producing such weapons," Sergey Chemezov, Director General of Rostec State Corporation, is quoted in a press release published on February 17, 2019 on the official website of the Kalashnikov Concern. – A high-precision unmanned projectile flies for up to 30 minutes at a speed of 130 km/h. The charge on this complex is delivered to the target regardless of its stealth and terrain – both at low and high altitudes. This is a very accurate and maximally effective weapon, which is very difficult to fight with the help of traditional air defense systems."
This kamikaze drone is designed according to an airplane scheme with a pushing propeller. Its length is just over 1.2 m, and the wingspan is 0.95 m. According to the developer company, the KUB-UAV barrage munition can be in the air for up to 30 minutes, flying at speeds of 80-130 km/ h and carrying a payload weighing about 3 kg. The device is launched from a catapult.
"The strike unmanned complex delivers a special load according to the coordinates of the target, which are set manually or according to the image from the target guidance load," the website of the ZALA AERO group of companies emphasizes. It is noted that the advantages of this type of barrage ammunition include high accuracy, hidden launch, noiselessness and ease of use.
Judging by the publicly available photos and videos, the KUB-BLAH BB was used during a special military operation in Ukraine. But more actively, Russian servicemen use kamikaze drones of the Lancet family to defeat various targets, including mobile ones.
STRIKING "LANCETS"In light of the active use of BB in recent years in a number of hot spots, including in Syria and Libya, as well as in the recent conflict in Transcaucasia, where these weapons of destruction have proved to be effective weapons, a new powerful round should be expected in the history of the development of kamikaze drones.
Moreover, in a number of countries of the world, projects in this area have already been given the "green light".
Russian developers strictly follow global trends, and often even outstrip them. It is in this light that it is worth considering the creation of the ZALA AERO company, which is part of the Kalashnikov Concern JSC, of the ZALA Lancet BB family. The premiere of this family took place in June 2019 – on the eve of the opening of the International Military-Technical Forum "Army-2019". As a result, during the work of this exhibition, various potential customers, including foreign ones, could get acquainted in detail with the latest domestic developments in this class of high–precision weapons.
It should be particularly noted that the Lancet is not an ordinary classic BB, but (as indicated in the article "Lancet Strike drone: Spear of the XXI century", published on August 30, 2019 on the website of Rostec State Corporation) "an intelligent multitasking weapon that is able to independently find a given target and hit it".
The complex includes a high-precision strike element, as well as intelligence, navigation and communication modules. It creates its own navigation field and does not require the creation of land or sea infrastructure, the article emphasizes.
The Lancet is not a single sample of the class of high–precision weapons under consideration, but, as already mentioned, the BB family. Initially, according to the information provided in the video presentation by the developer company, it consisted of "Lancet-1", which has a take-off weight of 5 kg and can carry a payload of 1 kg, and "Lancet-3", which has a take-off weight of 12 kg and can carry a payload of 3 kg.
A fairly small mass of devices, according to the developers, is provided due to the widespread use of plastics and composite materials in their design. Apparently, the Lancet-3 was identified as the base sample, and the Lancet-1 as its reduced and lightweight version for use on smaller targets.
The first sample of this family has the ability to reach a flight speed of about 80-110 km / h and can fly for up to 30 minutes. Whereas the second device at the same speed is capable of flying for up to 40 minutes. The radius of destruction of targets in both barrage ammunition of the Lancet family is about 40 km.
Both devices are equipped with a warhead with a pre-contact fuse, several types of guidance systems (coordinate system, guidance system using optoelectronic means and a combined guidance system), as well as a television communication channel that allows for reliable transmission of images along the flight route and in the target area to the operator's control panel. This allows you to reliably confirm the success of defeating the target selected for the attack.
A distinctive feature of both representatives of the Lancet family is that their control system allows you to aim the BB at the target using target designation data received from other aircraft. For example, reconnaissance drones, which are equipped with highly sensitive multi-channel reconnaissance and surveillance systems. As a result, the Lancets themselves do not even need to use their navigation system, since the BB can be guided to the target by reconnaissance drones within the framework of the navigation grid formed by the latter.
Structurally, the Lancet BB family is built according to an interesting aerodynamic scheme – with a double X-shaped wing. Such a scheme provides more efficient handling when flying at high speeds than in the case of a wing with a large span and a larger area. It is used on high-precision weapons of this class for the first time in the world.
"Double X is our absolute know-how. When diving and maneuvering, such a scheme behaves much better, besides, the dimensions of the product are greatly reduced," Alexander Zakharov, CEO of ZALA AERO, is quoted in the article "Lancet Strike drone: the spear of the XXI century" mentioned above.
Electric motors are used as a power plant on the BB of the Lancet family, which rotate one pushing propeller located in the tail part of the device. "ZALA produces all modern unmanned vehicles with electric motors. On board the Lancet there is also an electric motor, and on the hull there is the usual image of a green leaf," the mentioned article emphasizes. – However, the use of an electric motor in this case is not only concern for the environment, but also invisibility. Electric motors are out of competition for acoustic invisibility. In addition, they are more reliable, lighter and more compact."
The launch of the "Lancets" is carried out from a catapult similar to the one used to launch the "CUBE-UAV" type BB. This makes it possible to ensure a higher degree of unification when using high-precision tactical-class weapons in the troops under consideration.
According to available data, tests for the use of "Lancets" for the intended purpose from naval carriers – combat surface ships (boats) of different classes and types have been successfully passed. Which significantly expands the range of scenarios for the combat use of these kamikaze drones. Videos from such tests appeared in the public domain at the end of 2021.
UKRAINE IS DIGITIZEDRecently, information has appeared in the open press that the basic version of the barrage ammunition adopted by the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation has received the designation "Product-52".
In addition, according to the results of the combat use of the basic variants of the Lancets, a modernized version was created in the developer company, which received the designation "Product-51" and differs from its predecessor in design terms (instead of two equal X-shaped wings, one large main X-shaped wing and a small X-shaped one are installed on it tail feathers), and is also equipped with a more powerful warhead.
"The basic version of the device with a 3 kg warhead and two X-shaped wings is called "Product-52", the upgraded drone with a warhead reinforced to 5 kg and one X-shaped wing was named "Product-51", – it is indicated with reference to a source in the domestic military-industrial complex in the note RIA Novosti "The source revealed the real name of the Lancet drones on November 4, 2022.
As part of a special military operation in Ukraine, BB of this family are regularly used to defeat various enemy targets – both stationary and mobile, that is, those in motion (on the march). In particular, the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation and other sources have publicly available video and photographic materials indicating the use of "Lancets" to defeat such targets as armored combat vehicles (main tanks, self-propelled artillery units, infantry fighting vehicles), towed artillery systems (including American M777 howitzers, nicknamed "Three axe"), engineering equipment, etc. The use of this BB was also recorded for at least one enemy combat boat.
Separately, it should be noted that the specialists of ZALA AERO have developed not only the complex of high-precision weapons based on barrage ammunition of the Lancet family, but also created a special simulator for training specialists in its combat use. The simulator is completely built on the use of a virtual reality environment and does not require the use of real BB. This significantly reduces the cost, reduces time and simplifies the process of training operators of these weapons.
Moreover, as reported in a RIA Novosti note dated November 12, 2022, a digitization of the map of the territory of Ukraine was carried out to train the operators of the "Product-51" and "Product-52" barrage ammunition. "In order to ensure the training of cadets as close to combat conditions as possible, a map of the entire territory of Ukraine was digitized in our training center. This allows us to simulate missions for operators on real terrain in the special operation zone on our drone simulators, including the "Product-51" and "Product-52" barrage ammunition," the note notes with reference to the developer company.
In conclusion, it should be emphasized that the Lancet BB family are distinguished not only by modern shock stuffing, but also have a high degree of protection from the means of combating unmanned aerial vehicles and BB used today. In particular, they are equipped with a built-in anti-laser protection system, which provides them with higher application efficiency compared to their counterparts.
Vladimir Shcherbakov
Deputy Executive Editor of HBOVladimir Leonidovich Shcherbakov is a military expert, historian, and writer.
