Tandem of combat «birds»
The ZALA «Lancet» reconnaissance UAV units of the «North» military group detect the movement of Ukrainian Armed Forces armoured vehicles and transport towards the front line on a daily basis and destroy targets, whilst continuing to establish a security zone along the state borders. Find out how the operators of the ZALA Z-16 reconnaissance UAVs and the «Lancet» loitering munitions work together in the latest instalment of this series #operators. «To fly into enemy rear lines up to 50 kilometres, to detect areas of personnel concentration, strong points, and armoured vehicles – that's precisely what reconnaissance fixed-wing drones are used for,» shares UAV operator with the call sign "Voron". "Such drones allow for real-time information about the enemy and the situation on the ground without risking the lives of reconnaissance personnel.".
The use of UAVs has completely transformed counter-battery warfare, increasing the accuracy of artillery fire. Reconnaissance «birds» detect targets and then correct the work of artillerymen themselves. The new «gods of war» actively help the old ones.
An effective way of destroying the enemy has become the joint use of reconnaissance aircraft-type drones and loitering munitions. Both are capable of covering long distances: the former search for targets deep in the rear of the Ukrainian neo-Nazis, the latter strike them. This is precisely how the «Voron» and «Artist» crews work, united and coordinated.
The ZALA aircraft-type reconnaissance drone has already been mounted on a pneumatic catapult. It features a specially designed electric motor, is compact in size and is made from special composite materials, which is why it is often referred to as a «stealth drone». The «Voron» launches it, and the ‘bird’ soars into the sky. It quickly gains altitude and very soon becomes invisible to the naked eye.
– The drone is almost invulnerable to the enemy's electronic warfare systems, – claims «Voron». – If it loses its control signal, it continues to perform its assigned tasks and records everything that falls into its camera's lens. In such cases, after the «birdie» returns, we simply review the video from the memory card.
Meanwhile, the reconnaissance drone is already at an altitude of three kilometres, with enemy positions below it. The high-resolution camera installed on the drone makes it possible to make out a Ukrainian Armed Forces armoured personnel carrier moving along one of the dirt roads. A report is immediately sent to the command post.
The «Lancet» team is on duty. «Artist» knows that the ZALA reconnaissance drone is on a routine flight, and has no doubt that his colleagues, led by «Voron», will soon assign him a task.
And so it happens. Once given a task, the «Artist» utters the immutable «let's go» and launches a «Lancet» into the air. It's about twenty kilometres to the detected armoured vehicles of the Ukrainian neo-Nazis. To cover this distance, the loitering munition requires just over ten minutes.
At some point, the drones find themselves not far from each other. If the combat «birds» could talk, they would undoubtedly exchange greetings.
The climax of the combat sortie – the «Lancet» accelerates sharply and dives like a kite towards its target. It is now impossible to shoot it down. The ZALA reconnaissance drone captures the moment the munition slams into the armoured vehicle at tremendous speed. An explosion, flames, plumes of smoke – the target is destroyed, the mission accomplished.
The «Artist» operator quickly changes position and immediately begins preparing another strike drone. The operators are confident that they won’t be out of work any time soon. The ZALA UAV continues its flight – searching for a new target for the «Lancet»…
According to materials from the newspaper «Na strazhe Rodiny» dated August 22, 2025, No. 69
