ZALA Lancet attack drone. © Marina Lystseva/TASS
The Russian military has destroyed one of few operational Soviet-made 2K22 Tunguska self-propelled anti-aircraft guns in service with Kiev forces.
The system was targeted with two Lancet loitering munitions near the settlement of Pishchane in the Kharkiv region. The first strike damaged the system and forced its crew to abandon it, while the second caused a fire in the ammunition storage compartment, effectively killing it. Video footage of the attack surfaced online on July 3.
The Tunguska system main armament is two twin-barrel 30 mm 2А38M guns with an engagement range of up to four kilometers. It can also carry up to four 9M311-series command-guided missiles with a range of up to ten kilometers.
The system is equipped with target acquisition and tracking radars with a detection range of 18 kilometers and a tracking range of 16 kilometers. It is also equipped with a supplementary electro-optical tracking system.
Kiev forces inherited more than 70 Tunguska systems from the Soviet Union. Most of these systems were inoperational and in a very bad condition when the Russian military launched its special military operation in Ukraine more than two years ago.
Over the past year, Kiev forces apparently managed to restore some of its Tunguska systems to an operational condition.
The system destroyed in Kharkiv was the third to be targeted by Lancet loitering munitions in recent months. Last October, a system was struck near the settlement of Pravdyne in the Kherson region. Later in May, another system was hit near the settlement of Viazenka in the Sumy region.
The Lancet was developed by the ZALA Aero Group, a subsidiary of Russia’s defense giant Kalashnikov Concern. The company produces two versions of the loitering munition, the Izdeliye-52 with an endurance of 30 minutes and a one-kilogram warhead and the larger Izdeliye-51 that has an endurance of 40 minutes and is armed with a warhead weighting three kilograms.
The loitering munition flies towards the designated area with a GLONASS-aided inertial navigation system. After arriving in the area, the operator utilizes an onboard electro-optical system via a two-way data-link to detect, track and lock on the target. A laser-ranging system then controls the detonation of the warhead.
The small radar cross-section and minimal infrared signature of the electric-powered loitering munition makes it very difficult to detect and intercept.
Ukrainian attempts to stop Lancet loitering munitions with air defense fire, electronic warfare or countermeasures have been mostly unsuccessful.
According to Lostarmour.info, a website that documents military losses, the Russian military has targeted 86 air defense systems of Kiev forces using Lancet loitering munitions since the start of the special military operation in Ukraine. The vast majority of the targeted systems were damaged or destroyed.
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gotta love some of the soundtracks they add to those videos, esp. the second one by xronikabpla :)
big kaboom and big smoke!