Forbes: Ukrainian attack could stop production of Russia's deadliest drone
Kyiv • UNN
An explosion at a Russian drone factory in August may have disrupted the production of deadly Lancet drones, leading to fewer attacks on Ukrainian troops.
An explosion at a factory in Sergiyev Posad (Russia) on August 9 could have disrupted the production of Russian Lancet drones. This is stated in the material of Forbes, reports UNN.
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"The Lancet, a small kamikaze drone that can locate and destroy targets at a distance of 70 kilometers with deadly accuracy, has become one of Russia's most effective weapons in the war with Ukraine. "Lancets have been shooting down Leopard tanks, artillery, and even airplanes at airfields.
Valeriy Zaluzhnyi, the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, in his article on the current military situation, highlighted Lancets as a problem. Initially, only a few appeared, dozens a month, but in July 2023 their number increased. But then something stopped their production.
That month, Russian media showed a video of CEO Alexander Zakharov visiting a giant new production facility in a converted shopping center on a Segway. The video showed racks of hundreds of lancets and said that production could increase fiftyfold. It looked like bad news for Ukraine.
But instead of growing, the number of Lancets has dropped significantly.
Information from the Ukrainian OSINT group Molfar, which studies sabotage operations in Russia, suggests that the reason could be an accurate strike by Ukrainian troops on the Zagorsk Optical and Mechanical Plant (ZOMZ).
"Molfar found comments from witnesses on discussion forums suggesting that the WMD attack was carried out by a drone. Although the explosion was more powerful than a single UAV, other devices could have detonated in the room
The explosion seems to have affected the production of drones, the article says.
In recent months, the number of Lancet strikes has decreased significantly - from about 135 in July to 69 in December 2023. This may indicate a halt in the production of strike UAVs, Forbes writes.
Another indirect confirmation that drone production has been curtailed came from Russian Defense Minister Alexei Krivoruchko, who said that the aggressor country produced only 3,500 drones in 2023.
