According to a video published on November 16, 2022, by the Kaskad military unit, a pro-Russian militia, part of the Interior Ministry of DNR (Donetsk People’s Republic), a French-made CAESAR 155mm self-propelled howitzer donated by France to the Ukraine army would have been destroyed by a Lancet drone.
The Lancet is a series of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) and loitering munitions developed by Russian company ZALA Aero Group for the Russian Armed Forces. Two versions of the Lancet have been developed by Zala including the Lancet-1 and Lancet-3.
According to open source information, Russian troops deployed in Ukraine use an upgraded version of the Lancet loitering munitions with an increased flight duration of one hour and a more powerful warhead weighing more than five kilograms. To destroy combat vehicles, the Lancet drone is equipped with a high-explosive anti-tank (HEAT) warhead. It has a maximum range of 40 km and a maximum takeoff weight (MTOW) of up to 12 kg.
The destruction of CAESAR howitzers used by the Ukrainian army is a priority for the Russian armed forces because it is capable of firing GPS-guided shells at a range from 4.5 to 40 km and has a high level of accuracy with the LU ammunition family.