ZALA Lancet attack drone. © Marina Lystseva/TASS
The Russian military has successfully targeted two of the Ukrainian Navy remaining vessels using Lance loitering munitions.
The vessels were docked at a small port near the settlement of Elevatorne in the Mykolaiv region. Video footage showing the strikes was posted to social media on March 9.
The first vessel, an American-made 40 Defiant small patrol boat, was destroyed in the attack. At least six boats of this type are in service with the Ukrainian Navy. The second vessel, the Soviet-made Project 1176 landing craft Svatovo, was damaged. Svatovo is the Ukrainian Navy’s only craft of this class.
The Lancet was developed by the ZALA Aero Group, a subsidiary of Russia’s defense giant Kalashnikov Concern. The company produces two versions of the loitering munition, the Izdeliye-52 with an endurance of 30 minutes and a one-kilogram warhead and the larger Izdeliye-51 that has an endurance of 40 minutes and is armed with a warhead weighting three kilograms.
The loitering munition flies towards the designated area with a GLONASS-aided inertial navigation system. After arriving in the area, the operator utilizes an onboard electro-optical system via a two-way data-link to detect, track and lock on the target. A laser-ranging system then controls the detonation of the warhead.
The small radar cross-section and minimal infrared signature of the electric-powered loitering munition makes it very difficult to detect and intercept.
According to Lostarmour.info, a website that tracks and documents military losses, the Russian military has so far targeted 12 vessels of the Ukrainian Navy using Lancet loitering munitions. The number includes the last two struck in Elevatorne.
