Solutions to win: Ukrainian analogs of Russian "Lancet" drones successfully pass initial testing
Photo: ZALA Aero
The Ukrainian drones, similar to the Russian Lancets, have completed initial testing and are now gearing up for their first combat trials.
The Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Digital Transformation, Mykhailo Fedorov, stated this on the "Diia" channel on YouTube.
What is the problem?
"Lancet" belongs to the type of barrage ammunition, devices capable of flying for a long time in the air, finding targets and diving on them, exploding on impact. The latest generation Lancet-3 drones can accelerate up to 110 km/h during horizontal flight and up to 300 km/h during diving.
The key feature of this drone is its ability to fly up to a distance of 40 km. These are the ones causing trouble for Ukrainian soldiers on the frontlines.
The Ukrainian army is experiencing an acute shortage of attack drones, as their mass production in the country is still gaining momentum, unlike in Russia or Iran.
"In the range of up to 20 km, we have many copters and FPV drones, but at night, it is quite difficult to find a target in the range of 20 km. We need to hit 40 km," Fedorov emphasized.
What is the solution?
Ukrainian engineers developed a domestic analog of the Russian attack drone "Lancet."
"Lancet-type drones are quite high-tech, and it took half a year to accelerate the market in this direction," the minister said.
Already today, Ukrainian drones have passed preliminary tests and are preparing for the first combat tests.
"This is a technological product, so it was not possible to launch it right away; it was necessary to launch the market… and now we have the result," the Deputy Prime Minister noted.
How does it work?
It should be noted that four companies' drones have been tested recently.
Two of the four drones were successfully tested.
Fedorov noted that it will be possible to organize the production of about 100 such drones per month in the next several months.
The "Lancet" feature enables you to enhance the operating range of the equipment, reaching up to 30-40 km, while FPV drones are limited to 10–20 km.
Another advantage of the Lancet-type drone is that it can work during the day because large quadcopters can only work under the cover of night.
These drones are operated through a video feed, enabling you to direct and adjust their movement while attacking.
In addition, these drones also have a target capture feature that allows you to lock onto the target within the final 300-500 meters before impact without the need for direct communication with the drone.
Mykhailo Fedorov also emphasized the need to introduce a market for such drones.
"There will be 2-3 competing products on the market; in a year, there will be a dozen such companies," he added.
The next stage will be testing on the battlefield.
For reference:
It should be noted that in Ukraine, one of the underground production facilities established the production of marine surface drones, which the Defense Forces successfully used to attack the Crimean Bridge and Russian ships, in particular, "Olenegorsky Gornyak" and the tanker "SIG."
