Lancet-1 / Lancet-3
Searches for and dives onto a target independently
Combines reconnaissance and attack: the munition can loiter over an area, select a target and then dive onto it at high speed. Newer variants use AI target recognition without GPS.
Learn more in the Drone Academy →Dimensionsfor imagery analysis
- Max. take-off weight
- Lancet-3: 12 kg (payload 3 kg); dimensions not found
- Dimension source
- US Army TRADOC Worldwide Equipment Guide (ODIN)
Key data
- Altitude
- 200 – 9,840 ft
- Speed
- 110 km/h · dive 300 km/h
- Range
- 40–66 km
- Cost
- $5,000 – $15,000 (baseline variants); Defense Express (Aug. 2026, single source, Ukrainian) cites ~$40,000 for the X-52 and ~$68,000 for the heavier X-51; pro-Russian figure Pavel Gubarev (Oct 2026) puts one at RUB 3–5.5 million ($37,000–67,000) and Oryx estimates ~$35,000 — none independently confirmed; the baseline figure looks outdated
Relevance
- Proven against
- Parked aircraft and air defence systems
- Adaptation
- AI target tracking makes it immune to GPS jamming
- Effectiveness (claim, Oct 2026)
- According to pro-Russian figure Pavel Gubarev, one Russian team (the 'Sparta' unit) fired about 100 Lancets over roughly three months from mid-June for only three hits; most were downed by Ukrainian air defence and interceptor drones — source: Defence Blog via Militarnyi, RU Mil Tracker e-20261026-01; one partisan source, not independently confirmed
Variants (Izdeliye)
- Izdeliye-51 (Lancet-1)
- Larger, ~1 h endurance, payload > 5 kg
- Izdeliye-52 (Lancet-3)
- Modernised EO targeting system, 3 kg payload
- Izdeliye-53
- Four-tube launcher, autonomous target selection, drones exchange target data with each other
News archive 14
Analysed reports from the RU Mil Tracker about this system, newest first. Archive since 2026-07-17.
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Russian unit fired ~100 Lancets in three months for only three hits, pro-Russian figure Gubarev claims
A Russian drone team fired about 100 Lancet loitering munitions over roughly three months from mid-June and hit only three targets, according to pro-Russian militant Pavel Gubarev, the self-declared 2014 'people's governor' of Donetsk who now comments on the war on social media. Defence Blog reports his account via the Ukrainian outlet Militarnyi. Gubarev s…
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«„Залізні птахи“ проти „Шахедів“: батарея перехоплювачів збила дев’ять цілей за пів дня» (ArmyInform: '"Iron Birds" vs Shaheds: interceptor battery downs nine targets in half a day')
Ukraine's 3rd Separate Heavy Mechanised 'Iron' Brigade has released video of its 'Iron Birds' interceptor battery, part of the brigade's anti-aircraft missile battalion, which it says destroyed nine Russian Shahed attack drones in half a day. According to ArmyInform, the video shows most of the nine interceptions. The brigade says the battery also shot down…
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«Акула-призрак»: какой флот нам нужен (WarGonzo: '"Ghost Shark": what kind of navy we need' — argues Russia needs uncrewed underwater drone carriers like Australia's Ghost Shark)
A post on the milblogger channel WarGonzo, signed by a 'reserve sailor', opens a new recurring series titled 'What kind of navy we need', reviewing uncrewed naval systems from around the world. The author repeats an argument from an earlier article: large warships are losing value in modern war and becoming big targets for aerial, surface and underwater dro…
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«1307 «Молній» за тиждень: на Півдні знищили понад півтори тисячі російських дронів» (ArmyInform: 1,307 Molniyas in a week – over 1,500 Russian drones destroyed in the South)
Ukrainian state outlet ArmyInform, citing the weekly results of Ukraine's Southern Defence Forces, reports that 1,528 Russian unmanned aerial vehicles were destroyed in the southern sector in one week. The large majority, 1,307, were Molniya drones. The rest were 116 Shahed-type long-range strike drones, 75 reconnaissance UAVs and 30 Lancet loitering muniti…
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«Ланцети», «Орлани» і «Князь»: Пілоти Signum за ніч знищили 25 російських безпілотників різних типів (ArmyInform: Lancets, Orlans and 'Knyaz' – Signum pilots destroyed 25 Russian drones of various types overnight)
Ukrainian state outlet ArmyInform reports that drone pilots of the Signum unit of the 57th Separate Motorised Infantry Brigade shot down 25 Russian UAVs of various types during one night of 'air patrol' over Ukrainian territory, and released video of the engagements. The list given is eight Zala, four Lancet, five Supercam, four 'KVO', one Merlin, two Orlan…
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«Понад 52 тисячі цілей за місяць: Повітряні Сили оприлюднили результати роботи у вересні» (ArmyInform: More than 52,000 targets in a month: the Air Force publishes its September results)
ArmyInform, the news agency of the Ukrainian Ministry of Defence, reports the Ukrainian Air Force's results for September 2026, published on 10 October. According to the Air Force, Ukraine's Defence Forces destroyed more than 4,700 aerial targets during the month and also neutralised more than 48,000 tactical-level UAVs, giving the headline total of over 52…
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Downed Geran-4 drones carry a 32-element, likely Alabuga-made anti-jam GNSS antenna, while Geran-4 and Geran-5 also get camera-based terrain navigation
A 32-element CRPA (Controlled Radiation Pattern Antenna) has been found in a Geran-4 strike drone shot down over Ukraine, Militarnyi reports, citing an analysis by The Insider of photos and videos of wreckage; the photos, taken in September 2026, are credited to Serhii "Flash" Beskrestnov. The unit is effectively two 16-element antennas in one housing: 16 e…
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China's military is preparing for Ukraine-style drone war
Defence Blog reports on a CSIS commentary published on 7 October by Lilly Min-Chen Lee (Taiwan's Research Institute for Democracy, Society and Emerging Technology) and Kateryna Bondar (CSIS Wadhwani AI Center), based on more than 90 Chinese-language sources from 45 outlets (July 2022 – August 2026), including PLA Daily and journals of China's state missile,…
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ZALA «Ланцет»: точно в цель! Сентябрь 2026
A post by manufacturer ZALA, reposted by the milblogger channel Dva Mayora, sums up September 2026 for the Lancet reconnaissance-strike complex (RUK) in the 'special military operation' zone. According to the post, Lancet crews concentrated on vehicles on Ukrainian logistics routes: pickups, armoured vehicles, special-purpose vehicles and supply trucks, whi…
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«Про це знає їхнє вище командування»: що стоїть за тактикою інфільтрації росіян між позиціями
ArmyInform reports remarks by Ruslana Bohdan, communications officer of Ukraine's 57th Separate Motorised Infantry Brigade (named after Kost Hordiienko), made on Army TV about the South-Slobozhanskyi (south Kharkiv) direction. According to Bohdan, Russian troops keep trying to slip through the gaps between Ukrainian positions. She stresses that these are no…
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Russia markets 'combat-proven' weapons for export at Egypt's El Alamein Airshow, claims new Su-57E deals
Ahead of the El Alamein International Airshow (EIA 2026, Egypt, 8–10 September), Russia's state arms exporter Rosoboronexport and the United Aircraft Corporation (UAC) mounted a sales push built around systems Moscow calls "combat-proven" in Ukraine. Rosoboronexport CEO Alexander Mikheyev said on 7 September that Russia has signed new export contracts for t…
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IRIS-T ВСУ уничтожен расчетом РУК ZALA «Ланцет» с расстояния почти 200 км
On 1 September 2026 the Russian Telegram channel "Два майора" (Dva Majora) published a post — forwarded from the manufacturer ZALA — headlined "a Ukrainian IRIS-T destroyed by a ZALA «Lancet» reconnaissance-strike-complex crew from a range of almost 200 km". The post states that a crew of that complex, attributed to the 50th separate brigade "Varyag", struc…
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«Рубікон», «Ланцети» і рої FPV: як росіяни штурмують Покровський напрямок
Sergeant Oleksiy Hodzenko, spokesman for the "Korsar" unmanned systems battalion of Ukraine's 38th Separate Marine Infantry Brigade (named after Hetman Petro Sahaidachny), described fighting in the Pokrovsk direction in a broadcast on Army TV on 29 July 2026. He said Russian forces continue attacking with small infantry groups that try to infiltrate Ukraini…
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Real Cost of Ukraine's Hornet Drone Revealed: Far Cheaper Than Russia's Lancet, Now Also Hitting Aircraft
According to Ukrainian defense outlet Defense Express, the real production/purchase cost of Ukraine's Hornet strike drone (also known as "Hornet One Way") has become known: $10,000-$11,000 per unit. Defense Express compares this to the Russian Lancet loitering munition: the Lancet X-52 variant reportedly costs Russia around $40,000 per unit, while the heavi…