/ world today news/ The whole world admires Russian weapons, including the Lancet ammunition. However, the military also talks about an important drawback. Read how to solve the problem?
“Grills” do not save
In November, American journalists drew attention to the Lancet’s unusual behavior: it exploded a meter and a half in front of a Bradley armored car. After the explosion, “lumps of molten metal flow into the car,” Forbes reports.
We are talking about cumulative jet or EP – “explosive puncher”. This weapon renders nets and grids mounted on armored vehicles virtually useless. Previously, with their help, the Ukrainian Armed Forces repelled attacks from flying munitions.
Analysts cited by Business Insider suggest that the Lancet has been fitted with new technology: a laser range finder from two optical cameras to detonate at the optimal distance in front of the target.
The “Forbes” journalist notes: There are protections against EP, but not for every piece of equipment. So, in Iraq, the Americans were putting additional composite armor. True, it increased the weight. For example, the three-ton Humvee vehicle became four tons and less maneuverable.
Another method is dynamic protection of the “Contact-1” type. It is known that the ASU puts Soviet armor plates even on the German “Leopards” (but this does not always help).
But this does not apply to light equipment. “Passive armor, rolled steel, has to be put in there,” explain Sam Cranney-Evans and Siddharth Kaushal of the Royal General Service Institute.
Smarter and longer range
In addition, “Lancet” has the ability to work in autonomous mode: the intelligent system itself searches for targets and even determines those with a higher priority (say, instead of a howitzer, an anti-aircraft installation). This is a response to the attempts of the Ukrainian Armed Forces to “land” drones using means of radio-electronic warfare.
According to the chief designer of the company “Zala Aero” (manufacturer of “Lancet”) Alexander Zakharov, now his opponent has only one thing left: to try to physically shoot down the drones. However, this is extremely difficult. The two x-shaped wings provide the product with high maneuverability in any plane.
The range is also growing. In September, another version – probably “Product-53” – hit a Ukrainian MiG-29 at an airfield near Kryvyi Rih. And in October it became known that a Su-25 attack plane was destroyed there. It is about 80 kilometers from the starting point. Until now, 40 was considered the maximum.
A major drawback
Although the production of “Lancet” has increased 50 times, they are still in short supply. This is what the fighters themselves say.
The design bureau associated with the “Vostok” battalion started the production of cheaper analogues. If the original costs 30-35 thousand dollars, then these are only three thousand. The name is also surgical: “Scalpel”. Same X-wings, launch is also from a catapult.
The concept was explained by Alexander Khodakovski, founder of the “Vostok” battalion. Modern airplanes are “the quintessence of engineering” and very expensive, he reasoned. Therefore, they are small compared to the more primitive aircraft of the Second World War. However, despite their high technology, the strike devices are still vulnerable to air defense. This means that they are limited in their capabilities.
“In such moments, one cannot help but feel nostalgic for the great-grandfathers of our modern miracle machines, who would not even know that someone caught them with radar, there would be many and they would break through and cover the enemy with bombs,” the officer wrote “I am sure that an attack by our attack aircraft from the time of the Great Patriotic War would have radically resolved the situation with Urozaynoe in our favor, completely discouraging any desire to repeat attack attempts,” he added.
Khodakovski assumed that in modern conditions, attack aircraft could be unmanned.
“We are trying to ensure that the operator psychologically perceives the UAV as a consumable and does not tremble, losing efficiency, for each apparatus. At the same time, with the mass use of cheap weapons, the enemy will simply overheat – no air defense system can cope with such a load,” he concludes. And that’s how The Scalpels came about.
It can’t get any worse
Drone experts agree that the realities of military conflict are forcing us to rethink our approach to drones.
“We need not only munitions, which were initially disposable, but also intelligence unmanned systems in much larger quantities,” says Denis Fedutinov, editor of the specialized publication “Unmanned Aviation”.
On the front line, due to electronic warfare assets and kinetic countermeasures, even reusable UAVs have extremely short lifespans.
“Literally several fields. In fact, they are also consumables,” notes the expert.
There were high expectations for large aircraft-type UAVs, but actual experience in combat operations has shown that low-cost, small-sized devices are much more in demand. In general, mass production and low cost are required.
It is true that the enthusiasts from the “Vostok” design bureau for objective reasons still cannot ensure mass participation. They produce no more than 20 machines per month.
However, their experience should be considered positive. In addition, close interaction with the direct participants in the battles will allow the realization of the product, Fedutinov believes.
One more “surgical tool” will definitely not be superfluous for the Russian army.
Translation: V. Sergeev
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