The big Russian appearance at the Dubai Airshow 2025 has caused quite a stir internationally. Drone manufacturer Zala, for example, is advertising its combination of reconnaissance and kamikaze drones under the name Lancet-E as “operationally efficient”.
To underline this attribute, the 4,000th video of a successful Lancet attack was uploaded online last week.
The cataloged videos show hits on over 1,070 towed guns, more than 600 self-propelled artillery pieces, over 500 main battle tanks – including more than 60 NATO-systems – and more than 400 armored personnel carriers and infantry fighting vehicles. In addition, over 200 radar and communication systems and over 80 multiple rocket launchers and air defense systems are listed. How many Lancet loitering ammunition drones were needed for this, however, is not itemized.
The reconnaissance element of the drone network is an improved Zala Z-16E. Equipped with machine vision algorithms, it is designed for automatic target detection, identification and tracking. It is also designed to ensure stable communication links at distances of up to 50 kilometers in the vicinity of electronic jamming measures. The flight duration of the updated Z-16E is up to 3.5 hours.
The attack elements of the trio are the X-wing drones known as Product 51E and Product 52E. The smaller Product 52E kamikaze drone has a range of 35 kilometers, while the larger Product 51E can reach up to 45 kilometers. Both attack drones can be equipped with different warheads as required. These include a shaped charge warhead, a shaped charge with fragmentation effect, a projectile-forming warhead and a thermobaric warhead.
Russian media report that the Zala drones have been demonstrated in more than ten countries around the world and are said to have aroused great interest among potential customers.
Österreich, Schweden und Niederlande schließen Lufttransport-Partnerschaft
The significantly larger T-20 reconnaissance drone is probably intended for the level above the Lancet-E combination. It can stay in the air for up to seven hours, cover 500 kilometers and transmit HD video from a distance of over 100 kilometers.
Zala is also promoting the “Geokosmos” system in Dubai. It is designed to fundamentally solve the problem of unmanned aerial vehicles’ dependence on satellite and mobile phone connections and ensure the reliable operation of UAVs even in the absence of traditional communication and navigation channels.
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