The Russian unmanned aerial vehicle Sukhoi S-70 Okhotnik-B is nearing the end of its testing phase and will begin serial manufacturing in Novosibirsk in the second half of this year. Production was scheduled to start in 2025, but the developers were pushed to speed up. The powerful vehicle will be armed similarly to the fifth-generation Su-57 fighter. Furthermore, it will be able to function alongside it.
Sergey Semka, the region’s vice-governor, announced that serial production of the heavy drone “Okhotnik” will commence in Novosibirsk before the end of the year. The final step of testing is underway. He stated that production would begin in the second half of the year. The UAV “Okhotnik” will be built at the Novosibirsk Aircraft Plant.
Initially, work on it was scheduled to last until 2025, but in 2020, the Ministry of Defence encouraged the inventors to speed up. According to reports from August of 2023, the “Okhotnik” testing is expected to be finished by 2024. Plans for export were disclosed, including several dozen units under one of the contracts.
On January 10, Russian Navy Commander-in-Chief Admiral Nikolai Yevmenov announced plans to use the unmanned complexes “Inokhodets” and “Okhotnik” for naval aviation weaponry.
The Okhotnik” is a heavy reconnaissance and strike unmanned bomber designed as a ‘flying wing.’ It weighs about 20 tons, has a wingspan of 19 meters, and a length of 14 meters. Its construction incorporates many composite materials, replacing aluminium alloys. This lightens the structure and also makes it difficult to detect using radar.
Using the “flying wing” aerodynamic strategy should help decrease radar visibility. The weaponry is kept inside bomb bays, and the aircraft lacks a conventional aircraft tail. The drone will be subsonic since its jet engine, which isn’t equipped with an afterburner, is made to guarantee low observability.
According to Russian Deputy Minister of Defence Alexey Krivoruchko, this unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) is a highly intelligent system that can solve a variety of duties on its own, in groups, and in coordination with manned aircraft.
The “Okhotnik’s” low-observability technologies will enable it to operate in environments where sending a manned aircraft would be too risky and breach opposing air defence systems. Then, conventional aircraft can be deployed through the breaches it creates in the enemy’s defences.
The benefit of the “Okhotnik” is that, even if the aircraft’s features are similar to those of manned aircraft, a pilot does not die in the event of a loss.
