RuAviation

The bad news for Ukrainian armed formations did not end after an upgraded Lancet (Izdeliye-51) kamikaze drone with a doubled range hit a MiG-29 fighter jet in mid-September at the Dolgintsevo rear airfield 80 kilometres from the front line. Izhevsk has created an even more powerful barrage munition – Italmas, which is the name of a flower from the buttercup family European mulberry in the Udmurt language.

The new strike UAV was created at the parent company of the ZALA AERO group of companies, Aeroscan LLC (not part of Rostec), which specialises in the development and production of unmanned aircraft systems. The company’s facilities in Izhevsk are used for the production of Lancets (Izdel-51 and Izdel-52). A new version of this kamikaze drone, Izdelie-54, is also being developed here.

The barrage munition Italmas has a similar aerodynamic configuration to another no less famous strike UAV Geranium. The new drone is also designed in a “flying wing” scheme and is equipped with a two-cylinder piston internal combustion engine. Fuel is poured into tanks placed in the drone’s wing. The launch is carried out from a mobile guideway, similar to the launch of the Lancet.

Alexander Zakharov, Aeroscan’s general designer, said the Italmas has a range of up to 200 kilometres.

“It is more depth-firing, that is, the range exceeds 200 kilometres. And with an enlarged warhead. Also kamikaze,” Alexander Zakharov told Rossiya 1 TV channel on 20 September.

Tests of the attack drone began back in winter at a training ground near Izhevsk. Now Italmas has been brought up to the requirements of the technical specification and is almost ready for delivery to the front.