Air system · Indoor Tactical Loitering Munition

LANIUS

Urban Reconnaissance / Precision Strike

Also known as: LANIUS-X / Legion-X LANIUS / Indoor tactical strike drone

LANIUS military drone profile image
LANIUS — Urban Reconnaissance / Precision Strike

LANIUS overview

LANIUS is Elbit Systems' small drone-based loitering munition for urban, indoor, and close-quarters missions. It is designed to give soldiers, special operators, and other authorized users a video view inside a building or confined space, with enough maneuverability to search, identify, and engage a target without sending a person through the same danger area. Elbit presents both lethal and non-lethal mission options within its Legion-X robotic and autonomous combat architecture.

The system's design centers on encrypted command and control, low-level operator video through a tablet or FPV goggles, and integration with other Legion-X drones and controllers. Elbit describes autonomy for navigation, detection, classification, and coordination, but those functions should not be read as confirmation of an unsupervised lethal decision. A complete public specification for mass, dimensions, speed, range, endurance, ceiling, and payload is Not publicly disclosed, and configurations may differ between LANIUS and LANIUS-X.

Elbit publicly introduced LANIUS in 2022 and subsequently marketed it to military, special-operations, law-enforcement, and homeland-security customers. Public reporting has associated the LANIUS-X family with Serbian procurement, but a complete customer list and delivered quantity are not available. Through September 12, 2026, LANIUS is best documented as a specialized close-quarters loitering-munition family, not a universally fielded conventional UAV.

Armament

Configurable lethal or non-lethal payload; exact warhead not publicly disclosed

Development and operational timeline

  1. Elbit publicly introduces LANIUS as an indoor tactical strike drone within the Legion-X system
  2. Elbit expands demonstrations of LANIUS command, video, and drone-teaming functions
  3. LANIUS remains marketed for military, special-operations, law-enforcement, and homeland-security missions
  4. Public reporting links the LANIUS-X family with Serbian procurement activity, without releasing quantities
  5. As of September 12, 2026, the complete operator list and configuration-specific specifications remain undisclosed