RuAviation

A new version of the Lancet barrage munition poses a serious threat to the front-line aviation of Ukraine’s armed formations. A video (https://t.me/aviation21/4166) showing a kamikaze drone destroying a Ukrainian Air Force Su-25 attack aircraft on the ground at Dolgintsevo airfield near Krivoy Rog is circulating on the Web.

This is the second video confirmation of a successful Lancet attack on combat aircraft on the ground. Earlier, on 19 September, a MiG-29 fighter jet was destroyed there in Dolgintsevo. In this regard, it can be assumed that if the Su-25 was not a mock-up that the VFU used to mislead Russian surveillance operators, then the Kiev Air Force has not learnt from previous experience. And judging by the subsequent fire and the attempt to put out the fire, the aircraft was in working order.

The airbase in Krivoy Rog is just over 70 kilometres from the front line. Forbes speculated that the strike on Dolgintsevo airfield could have been carried out by a new version of the Lancet kamikaze drone, the Izdeliye 53. This strike drone was first demonstrated in July 2023 in a report by VGTRK correspondent Alexander Rogatkin on Rossiya 1 TV channel.

“By now it should be obvious that the Izdeliye 53 poses a serious threat to the Ukrainian Air Force at airfields within 45 miles [~72 kilometres] of the front line. It should also be obvious that whatever air defences the Air Force has installed at its most forward bases are inadequate,” notes US columnist David Axe. He adds that not only do the Lancets freely overcome Ukrainian air defences, but also the surveillance and reconnaissance UAVs that record their strikes operate with impunity.

According to the channel “Voenkory Russkaya Vesna”, the Su-25 destroyed in Dolgintsevo is the fourth VFU combat aircraft to be hit by a Lancet at this airfield.