A new modification of Russia’s Lancet kamikaze drone is capable of hitting targets at a considerable distance, posing a threat to air bases of the Ukrainian Armed Forces (UAF), a US military news outlet has reported.
"Now that it appears Moscow does obtain the capability to launch attacks in Ukraine from farther positions, Kiev should rearrange some of its air bases and other military assets to ensure they cannot be reached via these longer-range drones," the outlet pointed out.
It referred to developments earlier this week, when an Ukrainian MiG-29 fighter jet was hit by a Lancet unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) from a distance of over 80 kilometers (49 miles) in the rear of Russian defensive positions. The Lancet’s a range typically stands at 40 kilometers (25 miles).
The news outlet noted in this connection that "Ukrainian forces must consider the placement of any new fighters [including the due-to-be-delivered fourth-generation F-16 jets] in light of Moscow’s growing UAV capabilities."
A separate US media outlet described the Russian UAV’s strike on the Ukrainian MiG-29 jet as “the new Lancet’s combat debut.”
An informed source earlier told Sputnik that the Russian company ZALA AERO recently unveiled a range of revolutionary upgrades for the Lancet's hardware and software systems. According to the source, new design-related solutions were also used during the development of the Lancet’s upgraded version.
Lancets, alongside various other types of drones, are widely used in the Russian special military operation zone to tackle Kiev’s counteroffensive, which Russian President Vladimir Putin called "more of a failure than a stalemate." He added that since the beginning of the counteroffensive in early June, the Ukrainian army had lost 71,000 soldiers, 543 tanks and nearly 18,000 armored vehicles of different types.