serendipity
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There’s a middle ground along the edge of the battlefield in Ukraine—a ribbon of land between 15 and 25 miles from the front line that’s too faraway for enemy howitzers and first-person-view drones to strike and yet close enough for mobile air-defense vehicle to target enemy aircraft operating over or near the front.
For first two years of Russia’s wider war on Ukraine, Ukrainian forces didn’t have weapons optimized for striking this air-defense zone—but Russian forces did: their Lancet loitering munitions.
These 25-pound propeller-driven drones—each costing $35,000—fly tight circles, scanning with their onboard cameras until they spot something matching the shape of an enemy vehicle. Then they zoom in and explode.
Russian Lancets have struck hundreds of Ukrainian vehicles, including scores of air-defense vehicles, helping to drive Ukrainian air-defenders away from the front line—and thus creating a safe zone for Russian warplanes and helicopters to operate.
Now it’s the Ukrainians’ turn. In February, Ukraine’s drone industry began mass-producing a Lancet analogue, the Ram II. Manufactured by Deviro, the Ram II isn’t actually a copy of the Lancet. Rather, it’s an upgraded version of an older Ukrainian drone called the Leleka-100.
A Ram II ranges as far as 19 miles with a seven-pound warhead and strikes within three feet of its target, according to Deviro. The company described it as “revolutionary [and] easy to use.”
A Ram II functions like a Lancet does: it loiters, scans and strikes with only minimal input from a human operator. Since appearing along the front line in recent weeks, the RAM II has begun wreaking havoc on Russian air defenses. In a single day on April 9, open-source intelligence analyst Andrew Perpetua counted five Russian air defense vehicles he believed were hit by Ram IIs.
For first two years of Russia’s wider war on Ukraine, Ukrainian forces didn’t have weapons optimized for striking this air-defense zone—but Russian forces did: their Lancet loitering munitions.
These 25-pound propeller-driven drones—each costing $35,000—fly tight circles, scanning with their onboard cameras until they spot something matching the shape of an enemy vehicle. Then they zoom in and explode.
Russian Lancets have struck hundreds of Ukrainian vehicles, including scores of air-defense vehicles, helping to drive Ukrainian air-defenders away from the front line—and thus creating a safe zone for Russian warplanes and helicopters to operate.
Now it’s the Ukrainians’ turn. In February, Ukraine’s drone industry began mass-producing a Lancet analogue, the Ram II. Manufactured by Deviro, the Ram II isn’t actually a copy of the Lancet. Rather, it’s an upgraded version of an older Ukrainian drone called the Leleka-100.
A Ram II ranges as far as 19 miles with a seven-pound warhead and strikes within three feet of its target, according to Deviro. The company described it as “revolutionary [and] easy to use.”
A Ram II functions like a Lancet does: it loiters, scans and strikes with only minimal input from a human operator. Since appearing along the front line in recent weeks, the RAM II has begun wreaking havoc on Russian air defenses. In a single day on April 9, open-source intelligence analyst Andrew Perpetua counted five Russian air defense vehicles he believed were hit by Ram IIs.
