The Russian military has publicly released imagery of its newest kamikaze drone.
The official television channel of the Russian Ministry of Defense TV Zvezda has shown interesting footage from the exhibition at the National Defense Control Center, which includes the new drone, known as the Lancet-3M or “Product 52”.
The Lancet-3M is a new generation of loitering munition, which has already been a nightmare to Ukrainian troops. It was developed by the Russian company ZALA Aero Group.
The kamikaze drone loiters above the operational arena, locates and tracks the enemy, ‘investigate’ possible targets to help to select the high-value ones, chooses the right timing, direction and angle of attack, and then performs a precise strike. Operators can even call off strikes at the last second after arming the drone. That kind of control allows soldiers to retarget in case an enemy moves out of sight.
According to Russian media, the new drone weighs about 15 kilos and cruises at about 120 km/h.
The maximum range is claimed to be 40 km, and targets are usually located with a reconnaissance drone before a Lancet is launched.
The new version has a number of visual changes compared to the basic version, including one large X-shaped wing and a small X-shaped tail. Furthermore, the Lancet-3M became similar to an Israeli-made Hero-120 aerial loitering munition.
