Russia's military is using a new unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) in Ukraine that has been touted as a cheaper alternative to Moscow's Lancet drone, according to a Kremlin-backed news agency.
Reports that Russian units are using Scalpel UAVs in Ukraine come as one U.S. drone manufacturer that supplies Kyiv told Newsweek swarms of drones could soon be deployed on the battlefield in the war.
State news agency Tass said that following test flights in September, small-scale production of the Scalpel had started and that a batch of 15 of the devices had been delivered to the warzone.
"If necessary, production can be significantly expanded," an unnamed source at the Russian manufacturer, the Vostok Design Bureau told Tass.
The source praised how it was an "inexpensive" version of the Lancet, which British defense officials said this month was one of the "most effective new capabilities" used by Russia over the last year.
The self-destructing, or kamikaze, Lancet drone, produced by ZALA Aero Group, has a 25-mile range and has damaged and destroyed Ukraine's Western-supplied Leopard 2 tanks and Caesar self-propelled howitzers along the frontline.
While Tass's source said that the Scalpel is "inferior" to the Lancet, with the latter more resistant to jamming, "this is justified since our product is more affordable." Minus a payload, a Scalpel is worth around 300,000 rubles ($3,300) per unit, Tass said, compared with the $20,000-$30,000 price tag of the Lancet.
This could mean that Russia might use the Scalpels across the front so the harder-to-jam Lancets can be saved for breakthroughs and for targeted offensives.
Michael Buscher, executive director of defense and intelligence solutions at Fortem Technologies, which has supplied Kyiv with drones since the start of the war, said Russia will push its drone development and continue cooperating with Iran, whose Shahed UAVs have devastated Ukraine.
Fortem's drones fire nets to entangle enemy drones to minimize damage to infrastructure, a capability praised by Ukrainian Commander-in-Chief Valerii Zaluzhny, who told The Economist the level of technology both sides meant the war had reached a "stalemate."
"As we've begun intercepting their system and as we've improved our system, so have the Iranians and the Russians," he told Newsweek, adding that Moscow's and Tehran's is looking at technological advancements which "include jet propulsion."
"We've engaged them at speeds at 115 mph, 120 mph, so the next evolution for drones will be greater speeds, faster angles of attack, deeper angles of attack," said Buscher. "The swarm development of drones and deployment in the theatre of operation, I would foresee that coming to fruition in the battlefield," he said.
"I would expect to see a greater employment of electronic warfare so the ability to counter the drone in the field will play a larger part."
Vostok Design Bureau has said that the Scalpel is easily controllable, stable and that it will be further developed with better camera and targeting systems and become more resistant to interference.
A Russian military blogger posted a video on Telegram of a batch of the Scalpels being unloaded by troops at an undisclosed military facility. The Lancet is a good product," said the post," "but there are not enough Lancets—that's a fact.
"We want to fill the front with the necessary means of destruction, and with your help we will do this." Newsweek has emailed the Russian defense ministry for comment.
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Brendan Cole is a Newsweek Senior News Reporter based in London, UK. His focus is Russia and Ukraine, in particular ... Read more
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