/View.info/ The new Lancet drone should be able to destroy tank columns. Western sources have largely ignored the Product 53 drone. He can change the rules of the game.
It fights howitzers, rocket launchers and tanks – even Western-made tanks, including the German Leopard.
This cannot be independently confirmed, but Western observers and media have repeatedly emphasized the effectiveness of this weapon system. Oft-cited Western sources such as the American Institute for the Study of War (ISW) almost never mention this particular weapon system, even though it is currently one of the decisive factors in the war.
At first it looked like Ukraine might win the drone war, but now Russia has the upper hand in many areas. Apparently, since the beginning of the war, the Russian army has for the first time overtaken in technical developments in the field of unmanned aerial vehicles.
During that time, however, it not only technically caught up and surpassed Western technology, but also managed to largely defend itself against Western drones and precision-guided artillery munitions.
According to a recent study by Britain’s Royal Joint Defense and Security Research Institute (Rusi), Russian air defense and electronic warfare systems destroy 10,000 Ukrainian drones every month.
The Vesti Nedeli program on the Rossiya 1 TV channel first introduced the Product 53 drone to the public, which is reportedly an improved version of the next-generation Lancet drone. But in German news about Russian drones, Iran’s Shahed family of drones, often referred to as “cheap drones,” is at the forefront, while the Lancet’s success is barely reported.
Objectively, it can be said that the Lancet drone is already a great military success in itself. It is a kamikaze drone that is launched by the user without aiming at a specific target and can remain many kilometers above enemy territory until eventually directed by the drone operator to an enemy military installation.
The design of the Lancet is based on a cylindrical fuselage with two pairs of X-wings attached to the front and rear of the fuselage. Pusher propellers are rear-mounted, as opposed to traditional thrust propellers, which are mounted at the front. There are currently three versions:
“Lancet-1” is capable of hitting targets within a radius of 40 km. The maximum take-off weight of the drone is five kilograms with a payload of one kilogram, the flight time can be up to 30 minutes, and the speed can be from 80 to 110 kilometers per hour.
The second version, Lancet-3, now has a take-off weight of twelve kilograms. It can carry a payload of three kilograms. The maximum speed of Lancet-3 is 110 kilometers per hour in horizontal flight and 300 kilometers per hour when attacking a target. Range – up to 50 kilometers. The plane can stay in the air for about an hour.
The third version, the Lancet-5, has an even longer range and a warhead weighing over five kilograms. The manufacturer Zala belongs to the Kalashnikov concern.
The factor of the inevitable defeat of the Ukrainian offensive
The latest version, now shown in concept form, has a completely different design: no longer a cruciform wing profile, but a circular 45-degree profile with folding wings.
The new model, working name “Product 53”, works in a swarm: as soon as the drone identifies a target, it reports it to the rest of the swarm, ensuring a coordinated attack. If multiple targets are identified, all marked targets will be attacked, potentially destroying, for example, an entire convoy of vehicles.
The drone operator specifies only the target quadrant and types of combat vehicles. The battle is then conducted autonomously and fully automatically, with the drones coordinating their actions with each other. The weapon system must be smart enough to understand that, for example, anti-aircraft and radar systems have a higher priority than, say, armored personnel carriers.
When a drone detects a target, all drones will know about it, explains Alexander Zakharov, chief designer of Zala Aero Group, in this video for Russia 1. Zakharov explains that the new Lancet must be compatible with the concept of network-centric warfare, where the network unites a swarm of drones – a kamikaze in general.
Unlike the current version of the Lancet, the Izdeliye 53 is launched not from a catapult, but from a small launch container that can launch up to four kamikaze drones simultaneously. The container is also transportable.
Russian drones already operate in flocks. There is a video showing two Lancets fighting alongside a Caesar Howitzer. Until now, the multi-drone swarm has been known mainly from small kamikaze drones called FPV (first person view) drones, which are often controlled by operators using virtual reality goggles, and also fight entire convoys of vehicles – but not autonomously and over the network, but manually.
What’s notable about the Product Launch 53 video is that it shows the production of Lancet drones in a former mall. The new production facility was set up and opened in just eight weeks.
The public television video shows hundreds of drones in various stages of production. You can see sparkling white rooms with state-of-the-art CNC machines, lathes and welding robots. The Lancet drone currently costs about $35,000, according to the manufacturer.
If Russia manages to organize significant production of these new networked and autonomous Product 53 drones, it could be a real turning point in the war.
Ukraine’s losses from previous versions of the Lancet already amount to roughly one or two combat brigades’ worth of artillery and armored vehicles — a huge bloodbath for the Ukrainian armed forces.
Translation: ES
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