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Contents
  1. Design and development
  2. Specifications
  3. Sensors and weapons
  4. Operators and combat use
  5. Similar drones

Italmas is a Russian explosive one-way drone1 from the ZALA Aero group, the maker of the Lancet2. ZALA announced it in October 2023 under the designation Izdelie-543, or Product 54, as a fully domestic development with a range of more than 200 km and a larger warhead than its earlier designs. Ukraine’s Defence Intelligence (HUR) lists it as a loitering munition launched by pneumatic catapult4. In February 20255 UNITED24 Media wrote that Russian forces had reportedly begun using it in combat. Ukraine’s Air Force names Italmas drones alongside Shahed and Gerbera types in its reports on Russian night attacks, as for the night to 26 July 20266.

Design and development

The name comes from the Udmurt word for a flower7. Aeroscan, a holding company that majority-owns ZALA, unveiled the drone at the Army-2023 defence expo2 near Moscow in August 2023 and said testing had begun the previous winter. In its October 2023 announcement ZALA said the drone had passed its tests and was ready for mass production3.

Defense Express reported in September 2023 that the drone resembles the Shahed-136 in appearance and launch format and that Russia was positioning it to strike targets at distances of up to 100 to 150 km7 from the front line. RBC-Ukraine describes it as a simplified version of the Shahed-1368 with a flying-wing layout, built from plywood, composite materials or foam plastic.

HUR’s sanctions database links three companies to the drone: CST LLC, Aeroscan LLC and ZALA Aero JSC4, the same firms it lists for the Lancet and KUB loitering munitions.

Specifications

ZALA’s announcement claims a range of more than 200 kilometres3 and an internal combustion engine that draws fuel from tanks in the wings; HUR’s database lists a flight range of 200 km4. A Russian state television segment in September 2023 showed a motor that resembled, but was not identical to, the Chinese DLE-602, a hobby engine of the kind ISIS found in recovered Gerbera drones9. A propeller sits at the front; Serhii Beskrestnov, a consultant on military radio technologies, said in July 202510 that the Italmas is not the KUB, a drone soldiers often mistake it for.

RBC-Ukraine put its speed at no more than 120 to 150 km/h8 in July 2025 and said it flies much lower than Shahed drones. Neither ZALA’s announcement nor HUR’s database gives a length, wingspan or weight.

Sensors and weapons

The size of the warhead is uncertain. It was advertised as packing a stronger punch than the Lancet, whose warhead FDD’s Long War Journal puts at 3 to 5 kg2. UNITED24 Media wrote in February 2025 of a warhead of several dozen kilograms5, while RBC-Ukraine gave 15 to 25 kg of explosives8.

FDD’s Long War Journal wrote that the drone allegedly incorporates artificial intelligence2 and that some Russian observers had suggested it could be equipped with an electro-optical sensor, though no such sensor was apparent in the available imagery. Defense Express likewise called claims of real-time optical control unsubstantiated by Russian footage7. Beskrestnov said the drone transmits an analogue picture10 to the pilot who controls it.

Operators and combat use

Russian bloggers and media linked unidentified drones in attacks on 22 and 23 October 2023 to the Italmas, but FDD’s Long War Journal found little solid evidence2 and concluded that the type had probably not yet been used in Ukraine. In February 2025 UNITED24 Media reported that images confirming its presence5 on the battlefield had surfaced online.

In July 2025 Beskrestnov said Russia was testing the Italmas in attacks on Sumy10, and on 24 July he posted a photo of one he said had struck the city that day. RBC-Ukraine counted at least three Italmas attacks on Sumy, on 14, 20 and 22 July 20258, that killed and injured people.

For the night to 11 February 2026 Ukraine’s Air Force reported 129 strike drones11 of the Shahed, Gerbera, Italmas and other types, and for the night to 26 July 2026 it reported 136 strike drones6 of the Shahed, Gerbera and Italmas types together with Parodiya decoys. Neither report gives a separate count for the Italmas.

Similar drones

  • HESA Shahed 136: the Iranian-designed drone whose appearance and launch format7 the Italmas resembles; the Italmas flies much lower8.
  • Gerbera: a Russian decoy drone with an internal plywood frame inside a foam body9, named alongside the Italmas in the Air Force report for the night to 11 February 202611.
  • ZALA Lancet: the same group’s loitering munition, with a warhead of 3 to 5 kg2.