Russia continues developing and producing new types of drones for attacks on Ukraine – expert

Russia is developing several types of attack drones, namely, the Italmas drone, which is an analog of the long-range Iranian-made Shahed UAV.

The Ukrainian drone developer Valerii Borovyk told Ukrainian Radio, commenting on media reports about Russian drone production, that a new drone capable of covering a distance of up to 200 kilometers has been being tested for a year, Rubryka reports.

"There are several types of drones. According to sources in the country, the Russians have already begun to use and transfer the new Lancet drones to the troops," said the expert. "It will be launched from tubes similar to mortars. According to Russian sources, they will already try to do it like a swarm technology. They want to coordinate their behavior impressions, distribute targets, and hit, for example, several pieces at one point… In fact, Russia has focused on several types and is scaling them. This [Lancet] is one of the types." 

According to him, this is a "really powerful weapon."

"The other type is an analog of long-range Shaheds. The Russians called it 'Italmas.' So far, it has not been seen on the front lines. But it has been tested in the Russian army for a year and can fly up to 200 kilometers. The weight of the warhead is still unclear. I think it should be somewhere under 30 kilograms, plus or minus," said the specialist.

He added that the Russians also have a Scalpel drone. "This is an improved version of the Lancet. It can fly 40 kilometers and has a warhead of, it seems, about 5 kilograms," Borovyk said.

The drone expert is confident that the Russians will not stop and will develop other types of drones, and components for them will be purchased, for example, on AliExpress.

"They, like us, look at cheapness… they don't stop only at mass production by state or semi-state companies. They still expand the base, take our experience, and buy the drones, for example, on AliExpress… They also launch the latest weapons at their enterprises. Everything is happening almost like a mirror, and nothing is surprising about it. There is already a war for survival going on here," the expert stated.

He stressed that to protect Ukraine from enemy drones, the country needs total coverage of critical infrastructure facilities by means of radio-electronic warfare, as well as radio-electronic intelligence, "to understand where the control comes from."

"Ukraine needs to protect the critical infrastructure facilities with weapons that can strike the deliveries of the enemy's combat units at least 2 kilometers… By the way, mobile cannons and machine guns are quite effective in downing threats. But the demand for them is huge. No one in the world was preparing for production; no one was preparing for such a total war as now," Borovyk stressed.

As reported, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) stated in its report that Russian forces began to attack Ukrainian infrastructure with new Italmas drones. They are cheaper and lighter than the Iranian Shahed-131/136 drones that the aggressor used before to attack Ukraine.

"Italmas" drones are more difficult to detect and shoot down. They can be produced and used more, but at the same time, they have a lighter "payload" (explosive on board). Russian forces are likely to use Italmas drones in tandem with Shaheds.

Rubryka also reported that despite the sanctions, Russia, with the help of intermediary firms, receives components from Europe and the United States, which, in particular, it uses in producing Kinhal-type missiles. They use companies that have not yet come under Western sanctions.