Russia unveils first flight prototype of Okhotnik heavy attack drone

Asia-Pacific, News December 17, 2021 , by IRIA No Comments

Russia unveiled its first flight prototype of the most advanced S-70 ‘Okhotnik’ (‘Hunter’) heavy attack drone rolled out at the Novosibirsk Aviation Enterprise.

Russian Deputy Defense Minister Alexey Krivoruchko stated that preparations for the drone’s debut flight are underway.

“The drone’s roll-out signifies the end of the item’s assembly as a whole and its outfitting with all the required onboard equipment in compliance with the requirements for aircraft and the switchover to comprehensive ground tests to prepare for its debut flight,” Deputy Defense Minister Krivoruchko said.

The UAV is developed by Chkalov’s Novosibirsk aviation plant in western Siberia, a subsidiary of aircraft company Sukhoi. It is equipped with a flat nozzle to increase its stealth capability and is designed to perform reconnaissance and strike missions.

The Motor Design Bureau of the Ufa Motor-Building Production Association reported earlier that the second version of Okhotnik will be equipped with a thruster with a new flat nozzle. The company’s engineers explained the flat nozzles produced by a 3D printer which will reduce the UAV’s signature for enemy heat-seeking missiles.

Rostec CEO Sergey Chemezov stated: “The new Okhotnik features a flat thrust nozzle as its major feature, which reduces its radar signature.”

The Okhotnik was first displayed in 2019 and the 20 tons drone is the heaviest UAV ever to go into production.

The UAV is designed to work in tandem with Su-57 stealth aircraft. It has a wingspan of 19 meters (45 feet), which is smaller than Su-57. The drone is expected to have a range of over 4,800 km (3,000 miles) and has the capability of six tons of weapons payload. The Okhotnik can develop a speed of around 1,000 km/h.

According to the head of the Center for Analysis of Strategies and Technologies Ruslan Pukhov, the drone uses a Russian made-engine, the Al-41F1, which is also used on the Su-57 fighter jet and the Checkmate aircraft. The engine allows the drone to fly up to 6,000 kilometers, Pukhov added.

*^{Russia unveils flight prototype of S-70 Okhotnik combat drone (Image Credit: United Aircraft Corporation)}*

The latest drone would be capable of operating in conjunction with Su-57 fifth-generation fighters. As part of the network-centric interaction with Su-57, the Okhotnik would be able to hit both aerial and ground targets.

According to a source in the domestic aircraft-building industry, the latest Okhotnik drone operations would be simultaneously coordinated by a Sukhoi Su-57 stealth fighter aircraft pilot and the drone is expected to be controlled from the new two-seat variant of the Su-57.

According to the Russian Ministry of Defense, the Okhotnik UAV operated in automated mode in its full configuration and entered the air combat alert zone during its first joint flight with the Su-57 fighter. During the joint flight, Okhotnik and Su-57 conducted tests to expand the fighter aircraft’s radar field and issued target acquisition data for employing air-launched weapons.

Earlier in August 2021, Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu stated that the Okhotnik combat drone program is expected to be completed by 2022, and the military will place orders for the delivery in the year 2024.