WATCH Lancet drone silence Ukrainian howitzer

A short clip published on Friday by a military-themed Russian Telegram channel purports to show one of the latest successful deployments of a Lancet kamikaze drone against Ukrainian forces. 

The video contains aerial footage of what appears to be a self-propelled howitzer firing shells from the cover of trees, which obstruct the weapon and make its visual identification challenging.

A Russian drone, said to be a Lancet, then swoops in, scoring a direct hit and starting a fire. The terrain seen in the video is covered by snow, indicating that it was filmed recently.

The strike was attributed to the ‘Black Hussars’. The nickname is used by troops from the 15th Separate Guards Motor Rifle Brigade, which is based in Samara Region. Its members are reportedly fighting on the frontline in the Donetsk People’s Republic near the Kiev-controlled city of Krasny Liman.

The unit is designated “Aleksandriyskaya” after a cavalry regiment fielded by the Russian Empire in the late 19th century, whose members called themselves “immortal” or “black” hussars and used as their insignia  skull and bones on a black Maltese cross. The contemporary soldiers adopted both the death-alluding symbol and the grim name, which they use for public communications. 

The Lancet loitering munition has been described by military analysts as one of the most significant threats that moderately-armored Ukrainian heavy weapons face on the battlefield. Produced by a subsidiary of Kalashnikov, the drone comes in two main versions, with payloads weighing one and three kilograms respectively.

Aleksandr Mikheev, head of the Russian arms-export agency Rosoboronexport, claimed last week that potential foreign buyers showed a great interest in the UAV during the Dubai Airshow 2023 expo. However, there is high demand for the product from the Russian Defense Ministry due to the Ukraine conflict, so it has not yet been licensed for export, he added.

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