Video clips emerged on social media on Saturday, Oct. 5 showing what was tentatively identified as a Su-57 (NATO: Felon) twin-engine stealth multirole fighter aircraft shooting down an experimental Sukhoi S-70 “Okhotnik (Hunter)” unmanned combat aerial vehicle (UCAV).
The footage, posted on both pro-Moscow and pro-Kyiv X/Twitter and Telegram accounts, shows the drone being shot down over the Konstantinovka area of the Donetsk region.
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The S-70 was designed to serve as a “wingman” drone to fly alongside Moscow’s fifth-generation SU-57 fighter, or to operate independently controlled from the ground to carry out reconnaissance and precision strike missions.
The UCAV is probably the world’s largest drone with a take-off weight of some 20 tons. It measures 14 meters (46 feet) long, with a wingspan of almost 20 meters (66 feet). Still considered experimental, the first prototype was completed in 2018, with two more said to have been completed this year.
It is said to carry a suite of the latest generation of sensors, including phased radar arrays and optoelectronic and infrared detectors. It is understood to carry a weapons payload of around 2.8 tons, including both guided and unguided missiles and bombs in two internal bays.
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The drone is powered by a modified version of the Su-57’s AL-41F jet engine, giving it a claimed operational range of 6,000 kilometers (3,730 miles). Despite its considerable size, it is said to incorporate various stealth technologies such as composite materials and specialized coatings which greatly reduce its radar signature.
The video below shows early testing of the S-70 alongside a Su-57:
Saturday’s incident was initially considered to be a shoot-down by nearby Ukrainian military positions or an unintentional friendly fire strike, but careful review of the video footage in the buildup suggests something different.
The start of the video shows contrails from the UCAV and its escort Su-57 fighter flying close together, one behind the other, the drone leading. After several seconds a puff of smoke from the fighter indicates it has fired what was probably a short-range R-74M2 heat seeking air-to-air missile, striking and bringing down the drone while the fighter wheels away.
The Russian authorities have yet to issue a formal statement on the incident or what led up to it. In the absence of official clarification, milbloggers have begun to speculate that the S-70 had begun to malfunction, which raised concerns that the technology might fall into Kyiv’s hands, especially given areas close by were controlled by Ukrainian forces.
Initial reactions (evident from the comments) suggested that another fighter aircraft had been shot down. Yet images of the stricken drone as it spiraled to the ground left no doubt about the nature of what had been shot down.
The falling drone struck and destroyed a house, confirmed by imagery of the wreckage that soon appeared on the internet.
The Kremlin had been touting the S-70 as an example of its latest cutting-edge technology intended to capitalize on the strategic advantage it would give its aerospace forces on the 21st century battlefield.
The loss of what is still seen as a prototype may not be such a loss militarily, but to shoot it down in this way, so publicly, could be a blow to the morale of those Russians who witnessed it via social media,
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