Izdelie-52 Lancet
The Russians were reported 17 July 2023 to have increased the production of Lancet kamikaze drones. The Zala Lancet is a kamikaze drone developed by Zala Aero to take out targets on land, in the air, and/or in water following the requirements of the Russian Army. The Lancets in combat configuration could be fitted with high-explosive (HE) or HE-fragmentation warheads. The weapon seems to be the first known Russian-designed loitering munition. The new weapon system has a maximum range of 40 kilometers and can carry out a precision strike autonomously. Besides, the drone has been designed to provide real-time video and imagery to the control station. The air vehicle includes intelligence, navigation, and communications modules.
The Lancet loitering munition consists of precision strike components, reconnaissance, navigation, and communications modules. The design of the Lancet-3 is based on a cylindrical fuselage with two pairs of X-shaped wings mounted at the front and rear of the fuselage. It incorporates a rear-facing pusher-prop arrangement in contrast to the more conventional puller-prop layout.
The most important feature of the "Lancet" is the aerodynamic configuration with two X-shaped sets of planes. It was used to reduce the dimensions of the bearing planes while maintaining the required lifting force. At the same time, we managed to increase the rigidity of the structure and increase the possible flight speed. Two sets of planes also improved the maneuverability of the device. The developers claim that due to their high maneuverability, new UAVs in flight can even imitate the behavior of birds, confusing the enemy. This seriously complicates the search and identification of loitering munitions, as well as their subsequent destruction.
"Lancet" (in medicine, this is the name of a type of scalpel - a sharp tool for cutting abscesses) - like its more famous counterpart "Cube" - these are loitering ammunition, that is, drones that can circle in the air for a long time, track a target and attack, rapidly diving at it. The drone got its name for its "surgical precision".
A loitering munition is a type of unmanned aerial vehicle designed to engage beyond line-of-sight ground targets with an explosive warhead. Loitering munitions are often portable and many are meant to provide ground units such as infantry with a guided precision munition. Loitering munition is a new concept of information weapon which is able to launch quickly and flexibly. According to the combat mission and the battlefield situation, the "cruise flight" can be realized over the target area to execute a variety of missions. This kind of new concept weapon is the combination of unmanned aircraft and missile technology, which can be flexibly deployed to the battlefront and shows a variety of functions, such as reconnaissance, damage assessment, precise attack, communication, early warning, etc. With long-time cruising ability, the loitering munition has significant advantage on hitting blind enemies at the ridge, roof and so on, which can greatly reduce the number of casualties.
Such ammunition has aroused widespread attention in recent years and many countries such as America, Britain and Israel have carried out the research work. A small loitering munition "Switchblade" made by the United States AeroVironment company has armed American soldiers and was successfully applied on the battlefield in Afghanistan. With high evaluation from the U.S. Army, the success of "Switchblade" and its practical application, marked the loitering munitions capable of reconnaissance/attack integration have been used into combat phase. Loitering munitions provide a new way of fighting for the future military action, which makes the rapid deployment of weapons over the target area. In recent years, countries according to their different need focus on the research of loitering munitions. There are some new trends in the development of loitering munitions, such as network cooperative engagement, composite guidance system, people in the loop control and low-cost munitions.
ZALA LANCET-1 is capable of hitting targets within a radius of up to 40 km. The maximum takeoff weight of the device is 5 kg, the payload weight is 1 kg, the flight time is 30 minutes, the speed range is 80-110 km/h. Another type of UAV of this company - the ZALA LANTSET-3 complex - has a take-off weight of already 12 kg. It is capable of carrying a 3 kg payload.
The ZALA LANCET-3 Russian Loitering Munition Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) is equipped with several aiming systems: coordinate, electro-optical, and combined systems. The ZALA LANCET-3 Russian Loitering Munition Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) has a video communication channel that broadcasts target image to confirm the target engagement.
The maximum speed of the Lancet-3 is 110 km/h in level flight and 300 km/h when attacking a target. According to the developers, "Lancet" can develop a speed of up to 300 km/h. It is supposed to be so, but there is one important nuance. A speed of 300 km/h is the speed that a barrage munition near the ground reaches when diving from a height of 600-800 m to a target.
Range - 40-50 km. The UAV itself weighs about 12 kg, of which the warhead (high-explosive fragmentation) - up to 5 kg. Such a device can be in the air for about an hour. The ZALA LANCET-3 Russian Loitering Munition Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) is equipped with several aiming systems: coordinate, electro-optical, and combined systems. The ZALA LANCET-3 Russian Loitering Munition Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) has a video communication channel that broadcasts target image to confirm the target engagement.
Intelligent loitering munition "Lancet-3" is made according to an aerodynamic scheme similar to aircraft, with two X-shaped sets of planes (like rocket), which made it possible to improve the maneuverability of the device. According to Denis Fedutinov, editor-in-chief of the Unmanned Aviation magazine, the Lancet is equipped with a double cruciform wing, which allows it to provide the necessary lift while reducing its dimensions. Also, such a solution is aimed at achieving high speed while maintaining good handling.
"It is worth noting that the Lancet is built according to an aerodynamic scheme similar to that used by some of the devices of the Israeli company UVision, which suggested a possible borrowing of technical ideas. The line of loitering ammunition of the Israeli company is much wider and it includes systems close in size to the Lancets. However, the presence of some differences in Russian unmanned vehicles does not allow us to talk about direct copying, "the expert clarifies.
The impact UAV is equipped with an electric motor, which is located in the rear of the fuselage with a two-bladed pushing propeller. An optoelectronic system is installed in the nose of the unmanned vehicle, which serves for observation and targeting. The image obtained with its help is transmitted to the operator's console.
A new intelligent multi-tasking weapon that is able to independently find a given target and hit it. The complex includes a high-precision striker, reconnaissance, navigation and communications modules. ZALA LANCET forms its own navigation field and does not require the creation of land or sea infrastructure.
The ZALA LANCET complex has several types of guidance systems: coordinate, with the help of optoelectronic means and combined. In addition, the drone is equipped with a television communication channel that transmits an image of the target, which allows confirming the success of the defeat.
A former employee of the Russian General Staff, Mikhail Khodarenok, directly states that the Lancet is significantly superior to its American counterpart - the Switchblade-600 loitering ammunition. In particular, due to the unusual placement of the wings (the Russian drone has an X-shaped plumage), it seems to have advantages in maneuvering and diving. The Russian expert draws attention to the fact that the kamikaze drone is often used in tandem with the Russian reconnaissance UAV Orlan. It identifies the target, and the Lancet hits it.
ZALA upgraded the Lancets, as a result of which the flight duration was increased to one hour, and the mass of the warhead increased from three to more than 5 kg. To destroy positions, places of concentration of manpower and equipment, the Lancet has the function of a pre-contact detonation - a high-explosive fragmentation charge of the drone is detonated in the air away from the target or above the target so that the shock wave and fragments cover as large an area as possible.
The Duma Committee on State Construction and Legislation prepared for the second reading a bill to increase the fine for failure to appear at the draft board on the agenda by about 20 times, to 40-50 thousand rubles. For employers who do not notify their employees of the need to appear at the military registration and enlistment office, fines will increase in the same proportion. The State Duma will make the bill a law next week, and the innovations will come into force on October 1, 2023.
Failure by a citizen to report to the military registration and enlistment office about a change in his marital status (married, divorced, children were born), education (graduated from college, university or graduate school), place of work (study), position, failure to report information about moving to another place of residence within the country (without registration), about leaving the Russian Federation for more than six months or entering the Russian Federation will cost 10-20 thousand rubles.
The one about subpoenas already became law in April 2023: refusal to receive a subpoena from the obligation to appear at the call of the state does not exempt, and dodgers are promised a temporary ban on leaving the country, a blocking of a driver’s license, a denial of consumer credit, a ban on registering a car, real estate and business. Now the deputies have reached the point of establishing administrative penalties for violating these new rules.
In the other two existing articles of the Code of Administrative Offenses, under which conscripts or reserve officers are punished, the amount of fines only changes: evasion of a medical examination or examination directed by the draft commission, as well as deliberate damage or loss of military registration documents instead of 500-3000 rubles will cost 15-25 thousand rubles. This is a lot of money, especially since many receive salaries around the minimum wage, which in 2023 was 16,242 rubles [about US$180] per month.
https://player.smotrim.ru/iframe/video/id/2649348/sid/smotrim/start_zoom/true/showZoomBtn/false/isPlay/false/">The Release of the Lancets has grownspecial report by Alexander Rogatkin, Rossiya 1 - 16 July 2023 https://vz.ru/news/2023/7/17/1221416.html">The next generation of "Lancets" is shown top attack anti-armor munition
Izdelie 53 [Product 53]
On 16 July 2023, ZALA unveiled a new version of the Lancet drone called Izdelie 53. The drones will now operate using the "Drone Swarm" tactic. One Lancet finds an enemy and a swarm of drones flies in to destroy it. Russia tripled Lancet production, as the program transitioned to a new development phase, becoming the Izdelie 53 [Product 53], the initial Lancets having been developed as Izdelie 52 [Product 52].
The upgraded Lancet operates in swarms, from custom-built launcher. This innovative product was showcased on national television, Rossiya 1, in the VGTRK program "News of the Week with Dmitry Kiselev", in a special report by correspondent Alexander Rogatkin. It had become a Russian tradition that when a report by Alexander Rogatkin (correspondent of TV channel Russia) is positioned somewhere, viewers and insiders expect surprises (in a good way).
The special report commenced with a succinct introduction of the current Lancet model, described by the presenter as a “stealthy, low-flying drone capable of hitting enemy targets with surgical precision.” The launcher, which houses four Lancets, will no longer use a catapult for launching, but instead the launcher uses a mortar launch. The wings unfold after taking off from the container. The video showed a MTLB tracked vehicle with a pair of such quad-packs mounted on a pedestal top of the rear of the vehicle. The MT-LB is a very successful platform, unpretentious in maintenance, with good cross-country ability. There is no armor, but there is no task to go to tanks. It is emphasized that the use of containers opens the possibility for salvo fire.
There is also a single transportable encapsulated version, with a hand hold at the topof the capsule, presumably for use by infantry other light forces. The incline launch frame has various grab-bar handholds that would facilitate crew emplacement.
The drone’s design is radically different frome earlier versions, with a single set of four folding wings, and the aft stabilizers on earlier models deleted. The size of the the drone is not specified, but relative to the legacy sensor dome in the nose it seems rather larger than the earlier editions. It was reported that since 2022, two variants of the ammunition had been produced. The basic version of the device (presumably the "Lancet-3") weighing 12 kg with a warhead weighing 3 kg and two X-shaped sets of wing called the "Product 52" (X-52, - here "X"), and the upgraded "Product 53" (X-53) heavier device with warhead weighing 5 kg and single X-shaped folding wing. It is not easy to set up a stable flight in a straight line with such a configuration ["even a stool can fly with the right engine."]. Aerodynamically unstable products were made 30 years ago with the center of pressure shifted closer to the nose with respect to the center of gravity. It is also known about the existence of a small version of the Lancet-1 ammunition with a warhead weight of 1 kg.
These drones are autonomous, share information, and perform mapping en route to their targets. In response to a Forbes publication suggesting that the Lancet operates on artificial intelligence, chief designer of the drones, Alexander Zakharov, clarified the new Lancet doesn’t utilize artificial intelligence, but operates based on mathematical algorithms that function in fractions of a second.
With advancements in fields of electronics, propulsion systems, and information technology, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) have become more capable and less expensive. The growth of capability and reduction in costs of UAVs have led to use and adoption of UAV-based solutions in various industries and application areas, such as, but not limited to, defense. In certain UAV-based solutions, multiple UAVs may be used together as a group or swarm of UAVs to capture photos and/or videos of a target from multiple locations and/or angles. Conventional methods for control of the UAVs in the swarm of UAVs may be based on techniques that may involve pre-defined missions or path planning for the UAVs. However, dynamic control of the UAVs may be a challenge due to the unpredictability associated with a movement of the target and also due to a requirement to maintain a certain formation within the swarm of UAVs.
The potential of such a peer-to-peer swarm to acquire targets is not self-evident, The Lancet-3 kill-chain relied on the Olran-10 surveillance drone to acquire targets, and hand off the target location to the Lancet-3. Presumably this reflection an allocation of sensor resources between an expensive broad-area [coarse-resolution ?] surveillance sensor on the Orlant 10, and a much less expensove narrow field of view sensor on the Lancet-3. This field has seen an outburst of interse since around the year 2015, and presumably the fine folks at ZALA think they have found a workable embodiment.
Zakharov said that a "series of combat experiments" had already passed on fully automatic use. He explained that the person is required to give a command and indicate the area. “He says: only armor. Accordingly, neither pickups nor people will suffer there,” Zakharov said, explaining that the drone “is specifically looking for armor or cannon artillery.” At the same time, the drone has a “tablet from the accounting department” saying that “air defense systems and radars are more expensive.” If the drone "sees the tank and the radar at the same time, then there will be a radar." Zakharov stressed that "everything has already been tested."
The reporter’s visit to the brand-new drone production facility revealed that the building in Izhevsk, on an area of over 50 thousand square meters []about 500,000 square feet [the air distance from Izhevsk to Ukraine is about 1300 kilometers, exactly twice the distance from Ukrain to Moscow]. The [presumably vacant] shopping center, which was on the verge of bankruptcy just two months earlier, was transformed into an ultra-modern enterprise by the Russian state. The pristine rooms were outfitted with state-of-the-art CNC machines, lathes, welding robots, laser machines, and more. It is stated that the production of these devices has more than tripled over the year.
"Lancet" initially used components of foreign production, imported to Russia. It seems that Russia, preparing for war, created large stocks of necessary spare parts. Conflict Armament Research (CAR) field investigation teams [with the financial assistance of the European Union and the German Federal Foreign Office] in March 2023 observed components manufactured after the Russian invasion on 24 February 2022. The remains of a Lancet loitering munition were documented by CAR in Ukraine on 21 March 2023. "The components CAR documented belong to a category that would not have been subject to export controls to the Russian Federation by the United States prior to the February 2022 invasion and only became controlled in September 2022 , a month after they were manufactured. Although these components bear the markings of a company based in the United States, it is very likely that they were physically manufactured outside the country, as is standard practice in the chip industry. "
https://texty.org.ua/articles/110198/zrada-panika-dezinformatsija-pro-shcho-pyshut-fejkovi-telehram-kanaly-bryhad-zsu/">Betrayal, panic, misinformation. What the fake telegram channels of the armed forces brigades write about https://conflictarm.org/post-invasioncomponents">Identifying post-invasion components in Russian weapons Ukraine field dispatch, April 2023 - Conflict Armament Research https://texty.org.ua/fragments/53481/Jak_vidriznyty_rizni_typy_bronetehniky_INFOGRAFIKA-53481/">How to distinguish different types of armored vehicles https://texty.org.ua/projects/105597/upiznaj-svoyih-gra-trenazher-chij-ce-tank/?src=top_projects_banner&from=110198">WHOSE TANK IS THIS?! There is some confusion about "Lancet" nomenclature. The Rossiya-1 TV channel program showed both the Izdeliye-52 with a warhead weight of 3 kg [evidently Lancet-3] and the improved Izdeliye-51, as well as a "an improved version of the "Product 51" with a weight of 5 kg and an extended range" - a prototype Izdeliye-53, which in the future should go into mass production.
Since the autumn of 2022, video of Ukrainian equipment targeted by Russian drones becane a regular feature in the reports of Russian propaganda resources, creating a myth of high-precision weapons that are extremely effective and invulnerable to countermeasures. Presumably the Russians are only airing "money shots", without proving the actual ratio of successful hits and misses by Lancet.
Andriy Garasym notes "Usually, Lancets work in pairs with reconnaissance drones Orlans. The latter identifies targets and works as signal relays. Russian propaganda videos about Lancet hits are mostly filmed by Orlans."
While the small Lancet warhead of a few kilograms [equivlaent to an RPG, a 155 mm artillery ammunition has 11 kg of explosives] may cause catestrophic damege to some low density high value assets such as radars, and possibly inflict a world of hurt on soft0skinned vehicles, they may be no more than annoying to thick-skinned vehicles such as tanks.
The range of Lancet drone by UAV standards is rather insignificant — 40-50 km. But on a one-way mission the drone can fly upwards of 30 km from the line of contact. The range of Ukrainian M777 howitzers is 20 km, but most are positioned closer to the zero line. The range of Grad MRL is 20 km, Uragan MRL — 35-37 km, and the firing range of a tank is 5-7 km. So Lancet drones can reach most Ukrainian artillery systems or tanks.
Oryx believes that by May 2023 Russians were able to hit 113 targets, while 41 Lancet drones missed. According to data from Oryx, Lancet drones had destroyed or damaged about 20 American M777 howitzers and 10 self-propelled artillery systems supplied by our partners, including the M109 and Polish Krab. Other "trophies" include various radar systems of Ukrainian and Western production, as well as air defense systems such as the S-300.
Means of Radio-Electronic Combat (REB) can suppress the control signal or video. Ukraine had several types of REB systems, one of the most famous is "Bukovel", which can jam "Lancet" at a distance of about 10 km. One of the Ukrainian REB residents told TEXT: "First, there are reconnaissance UAVs with the same signal as Lancet. Secondly, the UAV, the same "Lancet", can fly in radio silence mode - then it cannot be detected in advance by a signal. Thirdly, EW suppresses the signal receiver. That is, the video from "Lancets" chokes on the receiver of the control panel. And the control panels in them are located very far away, so the video cannot be de facto suppressed. Ideally, it would be easy to suppress navigation, but much more difficult to do with control."
Pavlo Narozhny, a volunteer who specializes in artillery support, tells: "The problem with M777 howitzers is that they cannot be assembled very quickly. The self-propelled gun turned the barrel in the direction of traffic and drove off. And the howitzer "on a tractor" usually needs to be buried. Although, in general, it is easier to assemble a howitzer than to install it. But this is still a process that will take 5-10 minutes even in the best case. And if the howitzer has already been spotted from the drone, then, most likely, they will not have time to collect it. This is generally the problem of all artillery, which cannot drive itself. Therefore, during all communications with allies, the Ukrainian side first of all asks for self-propelled guns."
Defensive nets have a long history, dating to at least the 1500s when the British warship Mary Rose used them to prevent enemy sailors from boarding. Fmously when the ship sank, the nets trapped hundreds of sailors onboard. Starting in the late 19th century nets were used to protect against torpedo attacksm at first from from small boats, and into the 20th century from submarine and aircraft. During the Great War some barrage balloons had nets and cables strung between them to discourage enemy aircraft. And by 2022 both Russia and Ukraine were using nets of variosu sorts to protect their positions and equipment.
Narozhny noted "The simplest protection option is to use a steel cable to stretch a chain-link net over the gun. Even if the drone explodes, when it falls into such a net, it does much less damage than without it. The mesh increases the probability that the artillery system will remain intact, and the people around, although concussed, will remain alive. ... There are photos published by our General Staff of the Lancet hitting the Krab self-propelled gun. He was covered with a net, which saved him. There is a danger for self-propelled guns, but it is not critical."
The TV channel "Russia 1" report included video of the operation of the warhead of the Russian loitering ammunition "Lancet" when approaching the target. It was claimed that such a cumulative jet [shaped charge] is capable of penetrating a medium-armored target through and through. One well known portable weapon that utilizes shaped charge warheads is an anti-tank weapon known as Javelin.
Generally, the penetrators formed by a Shaped charge (SC) can be classified into JET (slim jet with obvious velocity gradient), jetting projectile charge (JPC, rod-like jet with small velocity gradient) and explosively formed projectile (EFP, projectile-like metal fragment with negligible velocity gradient). EFP has excellent stability for large standoff distance. In Iraq and Afghanistan, between 2005 and 2011, EFPs injured nearly 900 US troops and killed at least 196.
Shaped charge warheads have proven useful against targets having rolled homogeneous steel armor (RHA), such as tanks. Detonation of the shaped charge warhead forms a small diameter molten metal elongated cylinder, referred to as a penetrating jet, that travels at a speed that typically exceeds 10 kilometers per second. The high velocity of the jet coupled with the high density of the metal forming the jet enables the jet to penetrate RHA. The jet then typically dissipates any remaining momentum as multiple fragments within the tank enclosure, thereby disabling the tank.
While useful against RHA, high velocity penetrating jets are less effective against lightly armored targets, such as troop carriers. The high speed jet pierces a wall of the target and, unless the jet strikes an object within the target, exits through the other side causing minimal damage. Likewise, the high velocity penetrating jets are of limited value against a target having few vulnerable points, such as a radar installation.
Recognizing the vulnerability of RHA to high velocity penetrating jets, defensive armor has been developed. Composite armor is one type of defensive armor. Composite armor has a multilayer structure with layers formed from materials of different densities and different relative hardnesses. For example, one layer may be RHA and an adjacent layer a ceramic or a polymeric rubber. As a high velocity jet passes through layers of different densities and different relative hardnesses, the speed of the front end of the jet changes and disruptive shock waves may form. Composite armor is intended to cause early breakup of the penetrating jet, before the penetrating jet breaches the armor. A second type of defensive armor employs armor plates disposed at a non-normal angle relative to the likely trajectory of the penetrating jet. When the jet impacts the angled armor, the trajectory is disrupted reducing the depth of jet penetration into the armor.
Projectiles to defeat lightly armored vehicles and installations with few points of vulnerability are known. Each target type has special requirements. For example, an explosively formed penetrator (EFP) is useful against a lightly armored target. An explosively formed penetrator is formed from a shaped charge warhead having a different liner configuration than used to form a penetrating jet. The formed EFP has a larger diameter, a shorter length and a slower speed than a high velocity penetrating jet. The explosively formed penetrator is more likely to remain within the confines of the target causing increased damage.
Liner shape can influence whether a penetrating jet or a slug is formed. Generally, the smaller the included angle of the shaped charge liner, the more the projectile will have the characteristics of a penetrating jet. The larger that included angle, the more likely the characteristics will be that of an explosively formed penetrator. A multipurpose warhead utilizes a shaped charge device having a plurality of detonation sites. By proper selection of the detonation sites, the type of projectile expelled from the shaped charge device may be selectively varied. Among the advantages of the multipurpose warhead of the invention is that a single warhead may be used against a variety of armor types and a variety of targets. It is not kown whether Russia has perfected such a warhead or whether such a warhead is carried on Lancet.
The standoff distance of a shaped charge is the distance from the base of the liner or cavity to the target. It is known that the standoff in shaped charges has an optimum distance for best penetration performance. A simple conical-shaped charge (CSC) would produce a fluid metal jet intended for short-distance penetration a ranges of tens of centimeters, probablly less than half a meter. Some studies have shown that a Jetting Penetrator Charge [JPC] retains good penetrations ability at a standoff distance of about 15 times the charge diameter, and the jet may reach a distance of 20 times the charge diameter. The latest Lancet-3 has a diameter that might be estimated at about 10cm, suggesting a potential standoff distance of one or two meters using such a warhead.
It would not be difficult to incorporate the requsite proximity fuze to support such a stand off detonation for the Lancet-3 warhead. The United States perfected medium caliber proximity fuzes for anti-aircraft artillery in the Second World War.
A fuze is a sophisticated ignition device incorporating mechanical and/or electronic components. Impact, percussion or contact fuzes detonate when their forward motion rapidly decreases, typically on physically striking an object such as the target. Detonation may be instantaneous or deliberately delayed to occur a preset fraction-of-a-second after penetration of the target. "Superquick" (instantaneous) fuzes detonate instantly on the slightest physical contact with the target. The RPG-7 usually has an impact (PIBD) fuze in parallel with a 4.5 second time fuze; so detonation occurs on impact, but not later than after 4.5 seconds.
A proximity fuze causes a warhead/projectile to detonate when it comes within a certain pre-set distance of the target. Utilize sensors incorporating one or more combinations of: radar, active sonar, passive acoustic, infrared, magnetic, photoelectric, seismic or even television cameras. The pre-set triggering distance is calculated such that the explosion will occur sufficiently close to the target that it is either destroyed or severely damaged.
Mortar fuze are representative of the sophistication of modern electronic fuzes, and of sufficient small scale to be mounted in Lancet UAV [the state of the art in Russia is unknown]. The American M734 Multi-Option Fuze is a rangefinder & collision detection system used on 60mm, 81mm, and 120mm mortars as a trigger to detonate at the most damaging heights of burst when combating four types of battlefield threats Rangefinder electronics is a Doppler radar emitting a signal, and can be set to trigger two types of air-bursts: Near-surface bursts combat standing targets (NSB), and proximity burst downward onto prone or entrenched targets. (PRX). Collision detection portion consists of two mechanical devices: Quick response electric inertial switch for a burst upon impact with a target, such as a vehicle (IMP or PD), and Slow response mechanical detonator that allows shell penetration, such as through a forest canopy, before detonating (DLY).
Explosively formed penetrators (EFPs) are launched from considerable distance from their targets. measured in tens of meters, if not well over 100 meters. In order to do this, EFPs must be aerodynamically stable so as to strike the target with a small angle of obliquity,and the decay velocity per meter of EFP must be smaller. An EFP with a tantalum liner might penetrate steel armor with a thickness equal to its diameter, twice the penetrtion of a copper liner [a shaped charge can penetrate armor up to six times its diameter in thickness]. The "Russia 1" video included a brief clip of a Lancet-3 attacking an unidentifiable vehicle from about five times the vehicle's length, suggesting a stand off range of about 50 meters.
With an explosively formed projectile warhead, Lancet-3 could defeat simple countermeasures such as nets or cages. It could be effective against most battlefield targets, other than armor.
«??????????» ? «???????-2? Russian gunners in the Zaporozhye direction received a batch of high-precision munitions in July 2023, which included guided artillery shells "Krasnopol" and "Kitolov-2M". This was reported the 15 July 2023 by the Russian news agency RIA Novosti, with reference to the commander of a unit of the Russian army. “ Our units deployed on the front in the area of the settlement of Kamenskoye received a batch of precision-guided munitions. <...> In particular, we are talking about 152-mm high-precision corrected artillery ammunition "Krasnopol" and 122-mm "Kitolov-2M" , - said the source of the agency.
Russian troops were actively using Krasnopol guided artillery shells in the zone of the special military operation, there is also information about the use of Kitolov-2M shells. Guided artillery shells "Krasnopol" and "Kitolov-2M" are designed to hit various targets: armored combat vehicles, artillery, fortified positions, enemy manpower. The projectiles are equipped with a semi-active laser homing head; targets are illuminated using unmanned aerial vehicles or ground-based target designation systems.
It was also reported about testing a modification of the Krasnopol projectile - Krasnopol-D with an inertial homing head, which allows you to hit targets using satellite navigation coordinates. However, the supply of such a modification to the troops is unknown.
Footage of the combat use of the 122-mm guided artillery round "Kitolov-2M" by Russian artillerymen in the zone of the special military operation appeared in video of combat use published 26 March 2023 by the Military Chronicle channel. “In these frames, you can see the defeat of a Ukrainian tank by a 122-mm guided projectile “Kitolov-2M”. The car is hidden in positions in a dense forest, but a projectile with a semi-active laser homing head flies right on target, ”the publication said. The shot of a guided projectile in the footage came from a 122-mm D-30 towed howitzer of the Russian troops in the zone of a special military operation.
The development and production of ammunition is carried out by the Tula JSC Design Bureau of Instrument Engineering. Guided artillery projectile "Kitolov-2M" is designed to destroy single and group, stationary and moving, armored and unarmored targets and engineering structures.
HERO Family is a series of Loitering Munitions developed and manufactured by the Israeli firm UVision Air Ltd. They are characterized by a unique cruciform wing configuration that enables high manoeuvrability, allowing the operator to maintain ‘eyes-on-target’ and to enable accurate hitting capabilities in constricted battle scenario conditions in complex operational environment.
When creating the family of BB "Hero", UVision used a design principle close to the design of guided missiles. The Hero series of remotely controlled high-precision munitions is designed to engage a wide range of targets. Ammunition has a short, medium and long range and flight time, and also allows the use of various types of warheads.
The systems can be used independently of the combat platform or based on it. The Hiro system includes an appropriate launcher, ammunition and control unit, as well as a ground data terminal. The systems offer users combined reconnaissance and engagement capabilities. They allow you to detect, track and hit low-profile targets, the state and position of which are time-sensitive.
| Type | Hero-30 | Hero-120 | Hero-400EC | Hero-900 | Hero-1250 |
| Weight, kg | 3 | 12 | 40 | 90 | 125 |
| Warhead, kg | 0.5 | 4.5 | 10 | 25 | 50 |
| Flight range, km | 10 | 40 | 60/150 | 150 | 200 |
| Flight duration, hours | 0.5 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 6 |
| type of drive | Electric cue | Electric cue | Electric cue | Electric / Petrol | Electric / Petrol |
Russia wants to seek and destroy Ukrainian heavy weapons with kamikaze drones. “[Russian Defence Minister] Shoigu recently stated that the Russian goal is to take out Ukraine's long-range missile and artillery weapons,” Samuel Bendett, an expert on Russian drones and adviser to both the CNA and CNAS, said 22 July 2022. “This is a hint that Russia either needs, or will soon field, loitering munitions.” In the first few months of the war, Russian loitering munitions only carried out a handful of strikes — now they are appearing on a daily basis. Loitering munitions, otherwise known as kamikaze drones, offer something that Russia desperately needs: the ability to find and hit mobile targets like HIMARS from long range. Unlike a missile, the operator can fly a loitering munition around looking for targets and does not need to know their location in advance.
The Technical Support Working Group issued a Combating Terrorism Technical Support Office (CTTSO) Broad Agency Announcement [18-S-3001] with submissions due 05 February 2018. The current loitering aerial munitions are limited in their ability to engage targets in defilade, behind cover, as well as screen and concealment. They are also limited in the ability to engage targets that are surrounded by substantial vertical obstacles (trees, walls, etc.), or that are maneuvering in complex channelized terrain found in urban environments which include structures and subsurface terrain.
Current solutions are not capable of launch by an individual on the move – they require a temporary fixed launch area, control site, as well as an increase in setup time normally requiring an assistant. In addition, there are no current fielded VTOL loitering munition solutions for tactical operators designed to launch, identify, and engage targets. A true VTOL loitering munition should possess enough endurance and adequate sensors to find, fix, and finish targets in a single man-portable platform.
Through this capability, Special Operations Forces (SOF) seek an increase in lethality, range, precision and survivability of small maneuver elements across the range of military operations.
Desired characteristics:
- Shall weigh less than 20 pounds (T); less than 5 pounds (O).
- Size shall allow a single operator to transport on foot using only a rucksack or assault backpack. Launched and operated in all modes / functionalities by a single operator during dismounted maneuver (T=O).
- Shall utilize a fire controller in the form of a small laptop or tablet (T); wearable handheld device (O).
- Shall allow for Vertical Takeoff or Landing (VTOL) with no external launching or recovery mechanism/device and capable of direct attack, mid-course navigation based on target coordinates and direct controller input, and hover (T=O).
- Shall be able to loiter on station for 15 minutes (T); 1 hour (O).
- Shall be capable of engagement from 50 meters to 10 kilometers stationary and moving (T); 20 meters to 20 kilometers (O).
- Platform shall be expendable with an abort and safe ditch ability allowing the operator to cancel/abort an attack (T); platform shall be recoverable, reloadable, reusable, and capable of return to base if engagement not required (O).
- Shall utilize an EO/IR optic (T); multispectral optic (O).
- Shall be capable of updating or switching targets after launch (T=O).
- Shall have the ability to operate autonomously and/or employ artificial intelligence to operate in intelligent swarms (O).
Loitering Munition
Having been on the side of military capabilities for several years, the war in Ukraine and previously in Syria have put loitering munition at the forefront. Combining the advantages of a UAV that provides ISR while loitering above an area and the strike capabilities of a precision-guided weapon, they bring many advantages in modern operations.
The unmatched warfare capabilities of Loitering Munitions (LMs) and Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) from Group 1 UAS weighting less than 20 pounds, Group 2 UAS weighting between 21 pounds to 55 pounds, and Group 3 UAS weighting between 56 pounds to 1320 pounds; have replaced most of the larger Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicles (UCAVs) and fighter aircraft roles; to perform strike missions against targets in hostile airspace.
Loitering munitions (LMs) are classified as relatively low-cost Group! to Group 3 Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) designed to fill the capability gap between traditional Precision Guided Munitions (PGM) and Homing Missiles, LMs are often referred as suicide or kamikaze drones. Modem LMs are able to loiter and maneuver for relatively longer time over a pre-defined area with a terminal homing capability using high resolution electro-optical and infrared (EO/IR) seekers equipped with an explosive warhead to effectively attack beyond line-of-sight high-value and time-sensitive targets, particularly in densely populated areas where targets may blend into civilian environment to make themselves difficult to identify and engage. Unlike other types ofUAS of equivalent size and weight, LMs are may not meant to be recovered after the mission is over. However, LMs are limited in what they can provide by themselves due to performance limitations and current launch methodologies.
A Loitering Munitions (LMs) swarm is defined as a group of two or more semi or fully autonomous LMs simulating a biological bee colony capable of conducting complex missions without direct human supervision or Man in The Loop (MITL) guidance. Each LM in the swarm may be equipped with onboard computer powered by Artificial Intelligence (AI) algorithms and sensors to orient itself in relation to other member LMs in the swarm, as well as acting collectively to search for, engage, and attack multiple targets autonomously as Lethal Autonomous Weapons Systems (LAWS). The advantages of autonomous LMs swarm are the ability to perform distributed combat tasks, group scalability, strong operational flexibility, and battlefield adaptability. The use of fully autonomous low-cost LMs swarm is rapidly changing the battlefield especially in asymmetric warfare, allowing countries with limited funding and non-state actors to achieve air supremacy.
The most critical application of LMs swarm is using them as a low-cost method to conduct SEAD/DEAD missions or saturation attacks utilizing an anti-radiation seeker and high-explosive warhead to strike and saturate enemy air defense system. Typical methods of conducting such missions involve the use of expensive, complex, Airborne Electronic Attack (AEA), tactical fighters, and stealth aircraft to deliver air-to-ground ordnance via electronic warfare (EW) devices and Anti-Radiation Missiles (ARM), which are intended to disable and destroy enemy IADS systems. However, the range of these aircrafts may be significant thus requiring a significant standoff range to avoid the contested airspace, often beyond the effective range of radar systems. On the other hand, stealth aircraft may accomplish such mission with a higher level of survivability but such aircraft are highly expensive assets to own and operate for such missions.
In 2019, Israeli Air Force (IAF) conducted multiple SEAD/DEAD missions against the Syrian Short Range Air Defense (SHORAD) Pantsir (SA-22) using the Israeli-made Group 3 semi-autonomous LM named Harop. In 2020, Harop and other loitering munitions have been also utilized by Azerbaijani military to strike and destroy Armenian S-300 and Pantsir systems in Nagorno-Karabakh during September and October of 2020.
During the war in Libya, swarms of Turkish made Group 1 and Group 2 fully-autonomous LMs were used by the Government of National Accord (GNA) to conduct SEAD/DEAD against Haftar Armed Forces (HAF) Pantsir S-1; destroying up to 20 systems and causing total losses of $140 M. This case is considered as the first fully-autonomous combat attack in which LMs were able to find, track and attack targets without human intervention.
Between 2016 to 2022, swarms of Iranian-made Group 3 semi-autonomous LMs are used on weekly basis to conduct number saturation attacks against Saudi air defense systems, penetrating the kingdom's sovereign airspace, and attacking different critical infrastructures such as oil storage plants, water desalination plants, airbases and airports in Abha, Jizan, and Riyadh. Most notably, the major attacks that Saudi Arabia witnessed in Abqaiq and Khurais oil production facilities on the early morning of 14 Septewmber 2019 by a swarm of 18 Shahed-136 UAVs launched from Iranian base Shahid Ardestani. Those attacks proved the unmatched capabilities of LM swarms to penetrate and suppress some of the most advanced long-range air defense systems; causing excessive damage and disruption at a strategic level.
Group 4 and Group 5 UCAVs weighting more than 1320 pounds; have proven their ability in supporting High Value Targeting (HVT) missions in Afghanistan, Syria, Iraq, and Yemen establishing a new era of Unmanned aircraft benefits over manned aircraft. Although reconnaissance and strikes against moving targets continue as staple UCAV mission in asymmetric warfare against terrorist groups. For instance, MQ-9s deployed over 1,500 weapons against ISIS in Iraq and Syria on the ground. However, cost and manning requirements are major issues of using such large UCAVs in asymmetric warfare as a single MQ-9 unit can cost upwards of $64 million and requires a highly trained pilot and a sensor operator for as long as it is airborne. Another issue of using large UCAVs is the high possibility of being lost or shot down by surface-to-air missiles. Between 2016 to 2021, more than 26 UCAVs including MQ-9, RQ-4 Global Hawk, MQ-1B, MQ-lC, CH4, and Wing Loong II were lost or shot down in Yemen by basic SA-6 surface-to-air missiles. Thus, using UCAVs may not be as practical nor as cost-effective as a Group 3 STUAS would be for HVT missions in asymmetric warfare.
In High Value Targeting (HVT) missions and Multi-Domain Operations (MDO), organic and lethal airpower provided by Group 3 Small Tactical Unmanned Aircraft System (STUAS) has a great potential to significantly increase the effectiveness and lethality of small units while simultaneously reducing the burden on traditional and expensive tactical fighter aircraft. In addition to their lower operational and acquisition costs, Group 3 STUAS typically have smaller operating footprint as they can be launched by catapults or rail systems, which may also help reduce overall mission signature in high-risk operations. For example, the STUAS operator could fix a target visually, and direct other weapon systems,-for example, artillery, helicopters or UCAV to its location but not yet weaponized. However, the US military aims to increase the number of weaponized STUAS from a few hundred to several thousand, allowing the most forward-based troops access to an armed airborne support platform.
To further enhance the synergy between manned and unmanned aircraft, manned-unmanned teaming (MUM-T) concept was initiated in the early 2000s with the aim to provide ground forces, and pilots in fixed or rotary-wing aircraft better co-ordination and the ability to quickly divide tasks between available assets with the ability to control UASs and their payloads while being interoperable with tactical manned aircraft during Close Air Support (CAS) operations in contested or hostile airspace. As a result, there is an urgent need to develop a new methodology where STUAS & LMs could perform Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) and strike missions in CAS with direct control from military tactical fighters and heli copters co-pilots while de-risking manned aircraft and crews.
Autonomous & standoff cruise missiles have been also used for interdiction air attacks and SEAD/DEAD missions with decoy, ISR, and jamming capabilities such as Raytheon's miniature air launched decoys including (MALD-J) MALD-N and MALD-X, which are designed to be fired from a F/A-18E/F Super Hornet fighter jet. Another variant is known as MALD-V which is designed to be fired from the Predator Medium-Altitude Long-Endurance (MALE) UCAVs to deceive and neutralize enemy's air defense systems. Some of those missiles are designed to utilize their low observability characteristics and synchro nized swarming, using flight profiles that make them hard to detect and engage. This type of swarm attack also has the potential to target multiple objects simultaneously. How ever, the challenge of determining collateral damage esti mates from employing missiles has to be done carefully in order for this type of weapon system to be effective.
Low, Slow and Small (LSS) UAS threats represent a diverse and dynamic threat that most of existing Integrated Air Defense Systems (IADS) and Counter-Unmanned Air System (C-UAS) technologies are facing in modem warfare. The more sophisticated the UAS threats are, the more difficult it is to neutralize them, especially if they are fully autonomously flown in swarms as they are more challenging be detected and engaged. If they were successfully detected by radars, the defending forces typically use high-perfor mance long-range surface-to-air missiles (SAMs) to defeat them, which can lead to a high economic cost of such an engagement since traditional SAMs are designed to engage high-value aerial targets. The United States and its allies such as Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates are heavily dependent on costly IADS to intercept low-cost UAS threats. As of January 2022, Saudi-led coalition forces claimed that they downed up to 859 Iranian-made Group 3 semi-autonomous LMs used by Houthi rebels such as Qasef- 2k which costs around $5000 to manufacture in mass production.
The use of IADS against such threats is an overkill as a Patriot PAC-3 costs around $3 million. On the other hand, short-range air defense systems (SHORAD) and even legacy anti-aircraft artillery have been used in a few operations to defeat UAS threats but are still inefficient against low-cost UAS threats that are autonomously flown. In recent interceptions, Saudi-led coalition forces have used AIM-120 advanced medium-range air-to-air missile (AMRAAM) launched from an F-15 tactical fighter to intercept single UAS threat, which was ten times cost-effective. However, it would not be practical in combat scenario to use such tactical fighter with air-to-air missiles for C-UAS operations especially against fully autonomous UAV swarms. Therefore, multiple unmanned air-launched loitering munitions with a standoff range would be an optimal cost-effective C-UAS measure to intercept a single UAS threat or swarms of UAS threats (hit-to kill approach) preventing them from attacking airports, critical facilities, air bases, and IADS.
Thus, a Family of Unmanned Aircraft Systems (FoUAS) platform capable of multi-role strike, decoy, and ISR capabilities with improved operational range is needed to execute offensive operations and missions including SEAD/DEAD missions where tactical fighters and UCAVs may be placed at risk of the enemy's Integrated Air Defense System (IADS), while AEA aircrafts jamming and Air-Launched Cruise Missiles (ALCMs) have limited standoff capabilities. The FoUAS could be also configured for con ducting combat and cooperative strikes in High Value Targeting (HVT) missions, Multi-Domain Operations (MDO), and Close Air Support (CAS) missions to replace the use of expensive air-to-surface missiles launched by UCAVs with minimal collateral damage. The FoUAS platform is also capable of performing defensive operations such as C-UAS operations to defeat LSS flying UAS swarms as a cost-effective and an alternative C-UAS measure of using high performance long-range SAMs, air-to-air missiles, and short-range machine guns.
Loitering munition will complement rather than replace the artillery and infantry heavy weapons systems. Having returned to near-peer or peer-to-peer conflicts, where long-range fires and ISR are key operational elements. Such artillery systems have only been available on the brigade or division level, requiring separate ISR capabilities for these units to locate, identify and engage targets. What the introduction of loitering munition does is that it brings those capabilities to the battalion level making it more effective and flexible.
Nevertheless, someone should not only expect changes in the capabilities of ground forces, but also in the naval domain. Loitering munition will be an important addition to the weapons and sensors deployed by surface units, especially those operating in the littoral areas. Similarly, it should also be expected that loitering munition will be soon deployed by aerial, manned or unmanned, platforms. However, their market proliferation pace is not expected to be as fast as for the ground-launched ones.
The market is currently facing challenges due to the disruptions in the supply chain, the cost of raw material and the lack of production capacity from key manufacturers. That will change in the next couple of years and the market is expected to become even more fragmented and competitive as key countries are expected to develop their own indigenous solutions, rather than importing them from abroad. Europe has been one of those areas, mostly relying on the products from early entrants to the market, that is the US and Israel.
Finally, with the exception of the US Marine Corps, which has defined the way that loitering munition will serve its doctrines and therefore established a table of organization and equipment, the rest of the armed forces around the world are still in the definition phase.
https://blackallianceforpeace.com/">Black Alliance for Peace https://ria.ru/20230719/kulibiny-1884915440.html https://sputnikglobe.com/20230719/what-is-vampire-rocket-system-us-is-sending-to-ukraine-1111989624.html Russia’s objectives in Ukraine are non-negotiable and existential, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov explained on 19 July 2023 at an annual meeting with domestic non-governmental organizations and nonprofits. “We can’t and won’t ever give up the goals that were announced as part of the special military operation,” Lavrov said, adding that Moscow had warned for years against setting up Ukraine as a direct military threat on Russia’s doorstep. “There were plans to create military bases on the Sea of Azov and in Crimea. The regime that had proven its neo-Nazi essence more than once was constantly encouraged to exterminate everything Russian: culture, education, the media, and the Russians themselves, in those lands where their glorious ancestors lived and built cities for centuries.”
"The process of forming a multipolar world is unstoppable.... This must be acknowledged. I understand that it is difficult for the West to do so,” he added. “But if they want to artificially slow down the objective historical process, then it only raises the price humanity – including the West – will pay for justice.”
EU members face a potential gas shortfall in the event of a cold winter and a further decline in Russian deliveries, the International Energy Agency (IEA) warned. According to a report released on 17 July 2023, market fundamentals have eased significantly since the start of 2023 and the EU is well on track to fill storage sites to 95% of working capacity. However, full storage is still no guarantee against winter volatility, the agency cautioned. “Our simulations show that a cold winter, together with a full halt of Russian piped gas supplies to the European Union starting from 1 October 2023, could easily renew price volatility and market tensions,” the IEA stated.
Over 40 km of an anti-tank ditch was equipped in one of the directions in the Chernihiv region of Ukraine near the border with Belarus. This was stated 19 July 2023 by the commander of the joint forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Serhiy Naev. "We are creating conditions so that the state border of Ukraine is completely impassable <...>. In particular, in the Chernihiv region, more than 40 km of an anti-tank ditch have been dug in just one of the directions. More than 30,000 different mine traps have been made," he wrote in the Telegram channel . Naev also said that sections of the state border would be additionally reinforced with "non-explosive and explosive barriers." At the same time, he connected these events, among other things, with the fact that the forces of the Wagner PMC are arriving in Belarus.
The length of the Ukrainian-Belarusian border is 1,084 km. Representative of the State Border Service of Ukraine Andriy Demchenko regularly informed that the situation there remains stable. However, Ukrainian units create barriers and also conduct surveillance from unmanned aerial vehicles. In November last year, Kiev reported that they had already built about 3 km of a reinforced concrete fence on the border with Belarus in the Volyn region.
At the end of June, Kiev announced that they were closely monitoring the situation in Belarus in connection with the planned deployment of the Wagner PMC in the republic. On June 30, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky instructed to reinforce troops in the Belarusian direction. Already on July 10, Naev reported that the authorities would further strengthen positions and engineering barriers in the Volyn, Zhytomyr and Rivne regions. On July 17, Demchenko said that Kyiv had strengthened the border with Belarus as much as possible, and work to strengthen it did not stop. According to him, Ukraine is building engineering barriers and fortifications on the border, as well as destroying roads.
Russia will view the potential transfer of nuclear-capable F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine as a nuclear threat from the West. This was stated 09 July 2023 by the head of the Russian delegation at the talks in Vienna on military security and arms control Konstantin Gavrilov. According to him, Russia has already informed the nuclear powers - the United States, Britain and France - that it cannot ignore the ability of F-16 fighter jets, which could potentially be transferred to Ukraine, to carry nuclear weapons. "In the course of hostilities, our military will not figure out whether each specific aircraft is equipped for the delivery of nuclear weapons or not. We will consider the very fact that such systems appear in the Armed Forces of Ukraine as a threat from the West in the nuclear sphere," the diplomat said on Wednesday at a plenary meeting of the OSCE Forum for Security Cooperation.
The ground test training complex (aviation) NITKA in the Crimean Saki, in the course of modernization until 2025, will receive a new optical complex for training carrier-based aviation pilots. This was reported to TASS 19 July 2023 by a source in the military-industrial complex. "The NITKA complex in Saki will receive a new television landing complex by 2025, similar to the one on the aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov, which is under repair," he said.
Before flying from an aircraft carrier, carrier-based pilots, according to existing regulations, must obtain access to them. For their preparation, it was supposed to use two NITKA complexes in Saki and Yeysk. About the first one, it is known that the contract for its repair and modernization has been completed or is being carried out, the arresters will be repaired in the near future, about the second - that its commissioning has been repeatedly postponed, the last time - to 2023.
https://tass.ru/armiya-i-opk/18306361 https://tass.ru/armiya-i-opk/18307479 https://tass.ru/armiya-i-opk/18307803 https://tass.ru/armiya-i-opk/18307497 https://twitter.com/Defence_IDA/status/1681994215721676800 Battle Force Ship Assessment and Requirement Much is heard of late of a negotiated settlement of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. But for such talks to take place, there must be something to talk about. There is not. If anything, Moscow and Kiev are further apart today than they were when the Russian invasion began. I spent much of my early career in the 1980s and 1990s talking to Soviet counterparts. In the process, I even managed to craft a mutual moratorium on the testing of anti-satellite weapons. So I have nothing against talking to the Russians. "We must be ready to win decisively and dominantly. If we do not, we pay the price in American lives. When MacArthur said, "In war there is no substitute for victory," he was making a plain statement of fact. Nothing else can approach what is achieved by winning, and the consequences of losing at war are usually catastrophic." So wrote Army Gen. Raymond Odierno, Chief of Staff of the Army on 20 December 2011. Limited wars often end with negotiated settlements, but the War of Northern Aggression could not be settled by negotiation. It had to be fought to a military conclusion. General U.S. [Unconditional Surrender] Grant achieved victory at Appomattox, where the "negotiations" at the Court House were a mere formality. And by the time the Japanese delegation arrived on the foredeck of the USS Missouri, their [effectively] unconditional surrender was a foregone conclusion. Mention is frequently made of the Korean Armistice, which substituted for victory, and the precedent may be instructive. But the radical difference is that the cease fire came after the restoration of the status quo ante bellum, only after each side had almost completely occupied the territory of the other, demolishing much of the countryside in the process. By mid-2023, Russia remained in possession of an appreciable fraction of Ukrainian territory, having devastated an appreciable fraction of Ukrainian homes by one means or another. Limited wars might end with negotiations entailing mutual concessions, but general wars cannot. In a war with unlimited existential objectives, any agreement short of unconditional surrender can be no more than a temporary cease fire while both sides frantically re-arm in anticipation of renewed hostilities. Russia began this war under slogans of "de-militarization" and "de-Nazification", Russia aimed to extinguish the Ukrainian state, which it regarded as an artificial entity, rudely plucked from Mother Russia by the Bolsheviks, and plucked once again from Moscow's embrace by a CIA coup in 2014. When dozens of other countries came to the aid of Ukraine, Russian war aims expanded to include overturning American hegemony, establishment of a multi-polar world, defense of traditional family values in the struggle against sodomy and transgenders, as well as defense against Satan and the spawn of Hell. Ukraine just wanted to be left alone. Ukraine wanted to exist within the boundaries exiting at the time off independence, which had been guaranteed in 1994 by the US, UK and Russia, in exchange for giving up nuclear weapons. As the coalition supporting Ukraine grew, war aims expanded. Top US general Mark Milley said as recently as 18 May 2023 "Ukraine's fight is not merely a battle against an aggressive invader, it is a fight for the principles that bind us as a free world -- sovereignty, self-determination, and the rule of law versus the rule of force." Now we have Russia's struggle for heterosexuality and against Satan, and the coalition’s fight for truth, justice and the American way. Lincoln did not propose to free half the slaves. Unlike Solomon, we cannot propose to split the baby. Mirroring the Russian announcement that shut down Ukrainian ports, Ukraine says that it will consider all vessels traveling to Russian Black Sea ports as carrying military cargo and declares the northeastern Black Sea a closed military area.
It is reported 19 September 2023 that in Izhevsk three shopping centers have already become sites for the production of Zala and Lancet UAVs. Previously, the Italmas shopping center and the New House shopping center were repurposed for the production of drones; in the near future, the Stolitsa shopping center will become a new site. Factories for the production of drones are opening not only in Izhevsk and not only in shopping centers. For example, in Tambov, a bakery was given over to the assembly of drones , and the plant itself did not close and continues to operate in parallel. https://sputnikglobe.com/20230920/russias-cutting-edge-lancet-kamikaze-drones-put-ukraines-air-bases-in-striking-range-1113514330.html
Izdeliye-54 [Product 54] “Italmas”
The Aeroscan company, based in Izhevsk, developed the Italmas kamikaze drone, a brother of the Geranium drone. The new domestic kamikaze drone Izdeliya-54 [Product 54] “Italmas” (in Udmurt this is the name of the flower of the ranunculaceae family), deliveries of which will soon begin to the Russian Armed Forces from Izhevsk Aeroscan in Udmurtia.. Although not visible in the footage, it is stated that the drone can be equipped with a camera, which makes it not the younger brother of the Geranium , but an analogue of the Israeli Harop, the use of which could be observed quite recently in Karabakh. Soon the Russian Armed Forces would get their hands on this kamikaze drone, capable of hitting moving enemy targets to a range of 200 km, thereby significantly expanding the range beyond which enemy artillery and armored vehicles could previously felt relatively safe. The chief designer of the Russian company, Alexander Zakharov, spoke about this on the Rossiya-1 TV channel. The warhead was also increased. Like the similar device “Geranium”, “Italmas” is a kamikaze drone. Developed at the Izhevsk research complex Italmas, the drone is equipped with an internal combustion engine. The company is already ready to begin supplying drones to the active army. Its tests were successfully completed in winter. On September 19, Vladimir Putin visited the Italmas research center in Izhevsk . "Italmas", first presented at the international military-technical forum Army 2023 by the private company Zala Aero from Izhevsk (which also produces Lancets), is also a long-range loitering munition with an increased combat load (23 kg). It practically closes the previously existing gap in the list products that precisely destroy enemy military equipment and manpower at a distance of 200 kilometers or more! And these are mostly air defense systems and MLRS of the HIMARS type. That is, targets can be either stationary or dynamic - for a new hunter this is not important. Since the presentation of Italmas, observers began to compare it with the Harop (Israel) and Shahed 136 (Iran) loitering ammunition already in service in a number of countries, which do nothing but demonstrate their effectiveness. For example, Azerbaijan was the first to use Israeli Harop ammunition, both in 2016 and in the fall of 2020 during the battles in Nagorno-Karabakh, where their total number reached 300 pieces. As for the Shahed 136, footage of its precise and spectacular hit on military and industrial facilities in Ukraine now and then flies around the world. The main advantages of such ammunition are that they not only conduct reconnaissance, but also hit detected targets at long range, or have the ability to adjust their course depending on the current task. In many ways, the characteristics inherent in them are reflected in the appearance of the drones. Therefore, Harop, Shahed 136, and Italmas are very similar in appearance. All of them are built according to the same aerodynamic design, and also using composite materials, making them invisible and relatively cheap. As for the domestic Italmas, for even greater secrecy from air defense missiles with thermal guidance heads, its power plant (internal combustion engine) is installed in the nose of the aircraft. Additional cooling of the engine by the draft screw significantly reduces thermal radiation. According to the developer, Product 54 (Italmas) passed all tests last winter and is ready for mass production. All we have to do is wait a little to see video footage of its use in the NWO zone. Thus, the Russian Armed Forces will receive a full line of loitering weapons against ground targets operating at a distance of 10 to more than 200 km.
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