Ukrainian kamikaze drones of the Lancet type have successfully passed the first tests, and will be tested on the battlefield . This was announced by Deputy Prime Minister for Innovation, Education, Science and Technology Development - Minister of Digital Transformation Mykhailo Fedorov on the Diya YouTube channel, an UNN correspondent reports.
Details
Fedorov noted that the Lancet allows to increase the range of the equipment, it works at 30-40 km, while FPV drones work at 10-20 km. According to him, another advantage of the Lancet drone is its ability to operate during the day, as large quadcopters can only operate under cover of night.
Fedorov said that what is also important about Lancets is that they are guided by a video channel, which allows for guidance and correction of movement during the strike. They have a target acquisition function, which allows them to aim at a target in the last 300-500 meters before hitting it without direct communication with the drone.
A few days ago, there were four companies and we tested Lancet-type products, and two were successful. It was raining, snowing, windy, and in these conditions, two hit the target. It is difficult to make a definite forecast. I believe that we need to give the opportunity for contracts more quickly, i.e., to award contracts and then the companies will accelerate. But I think it's a matter of a few months. It is difficult to reach a thousand with all the manufacturers quickly enough, but hundreds can be produced in a few months.
Fedorov emphasized the need to create a market for such drones.
This is a fairly technological product, so it didn't appear immediately, so we had to launch the market, give manufacturers money, and now we have the first results, but we will now test it on the battlefield. For myself, I'm convinced that this is an irreversible story, and I'm calm. We need to give contracts and money as soon as possible so that producers can invest and reinvest, and the market will be there. There will be 2-3 products on the market that compete with each other. In a year, there will be a dozen such companies.
Addendum
Earlier, Fedorov statedthat Ukraine was preparing to produce lancet-type kamikaze drones.