Russian Lancet Drones Are Blunting Ukraine's Advance on the Battlefield.

"KYIV, Ukraine -- One of the scourges of Ukraine's counteroffensive is an exploding drone with distinctive X-shaped wings that smashes into targets at more than 100 miles an hour.

In recent months, Russia's Zala Lancet drone has repeatedly struck and disabled Ukraine's Western-supplied armored vehicles that were supposed to break through Russian lines and turn the conflict decisively in Ukraine's favor, according to Ukrainian soldiers and officials as well as videos posted on Russian social media.

On Thursday, the U.S. sanctioned the Lancet's maker, Zala Aero. It also sanctioned the person it said was the company's owner and the drone's designer, Aleksandr Zakharov, as well as members of his family. The State Department said the U.S. was targeting individuals and entities associated with Russia's conflict effort. Zala Aero didn't respond to a request for comment.

The drones have been a key factor in preventing a significant Ukrainian advance. Combined with minefields, artillery and guided antitank missiles, they have formed a fearsome obstacle that has made the Ukrainians leery of deploying more than a couple of vehicles at a time.

"They are a serious problem," said a Ukrainian officer serving in the southeastern Zaporizhzhia region.

Ukrainian forces have successfully used drones since the early weeks of the conflict, using remote-controlled aerial vehicles to spot Russian forces and direct artillery fire or drop small explosives on them.

Russia has since improved its drone capabilities and now caught up, Ukrainian soldiers say. Central to that is the increased deployment of the Lancet amid Ukraine's counteroffensive. British military intelligence authorities said Wednesday that the Lancet represents a "step change" in the way Russia uses drones.

Zala Aero told Russian media in July that it had increased the vehicle's range from roughly 25 miles to 40 miles. On Monday, it said it had tested and was ready to mass produce a new exploding drone called the Izdeliye-54, or Italmas. The new drone can travel around 124 miles and has an enlarged warhead, it said.

The Lancet is of "particular importance" in Russia's fleet, according to a Ukrainian briefing document used to inform foreign allies and reviewed by The Wall Street Journal.

Officials say the Lancet has struck several Western-supplied tanks, including the German-made Leopard and a British Challenger 2. The Lancet is reliant on a host of foreign components, according to the Ukrainian government briefing document. For instance, 19 electronic parts listed by the Ukrainian government are American. Of those, six are produced by Analog Devices, a Wilmington, Mass.-based semiconductor firm. Ukraine also says that so-called network controllers produced by Dallas-based Texas Instruments are found in the Lancet.

A spokeswoman for Analog said the company does no business with Russia and has told its distributors to halt shipments there. Any post-sanctions shipments are the result of unauthorized resales or diversion of Analog products, she said.

Texas Instruments said the company stopped sales to Russia in February 2022 after events in Ukraine started." [1]

1. World News: Russian Lancet Drones Are Blunting Ukraine's Advance on the Battlefield. Macdonald, Alistair; Marson, James.  Wall Street Journal, Eastern edition; New York, N.Y.. 04 Nov 2023: A.9.