Description

The Sukhoi S-70 Okhotnik-B (Hunter-B) is a heavy stealth unmanned combat aerial vehicle (UCAV). The development of the S-70 started back in 2011 by Sukhoi and later by Aircraft Corporation MiG. The so called Russian ‘innovation’ prototype is clearly a ‘borrowed’ version of Boeings X-45 and Northrop Grumman X-47B programs dating from as far as the early 2000’s. Further speculations lead us to believe that some features incorporated in the Hunter-B design and technology could be influenced by the Lockheed Martin’s RQ-170 Sentinel. It is likely that the Russians have come by it through the Iranians, who brought one down near Kashmar, Iran in 2011. Okhotnik-B is also believed to have inherited some of the fifth generation features of the Sukhoi Su-57. It is likely that the Okhotnik was designed to act as “a loyal wingman” controlled by the Su-57.

On the 5th of October 2024 a pair of aircraft, piloted by Su-57 and unmanned S-70, took off from Akhtubinsk Air Base (located approximately 365 miles from the front line) for an operational test flight. The flight was aimed at assessing the drone’s capability in live combat. During the flight the Okhotnik apparently lost its ground control, which resulted in the drone going off its course and ending up in the Ukrainian-controlled territory. The radio interceptions examined later made it clear that the Russians’ final option in the rapidly getting out of control situation was to use an air-to-air missile launched by the accompanying Su-57 and to make sure that S-70 would not repeat the fate of the RQ-170. The 20-tonne machine crashed in Kostyantynivka, Donetsk Oblast. At the crash site, the pieces of the wreckage included parts of the latest western technology from the US, Germany and Switzerland. The Ukrainian Defence Forces have also recovered the remains of UMPK D-30, a guided bomb based on FAB-250, which confirms the fact that the S-70 was out to test its bombing capability.

For this incredibly rare piece of modern Russian hardware to become available to the Tag Community is almost beyond belief. Their loss is indeed your gain! Don’t miss this chance.

We are deeply grateful to the Ukrainian Defence Forces for the rare given opportunity to acquire some parts of the aircraft wreckage and we are looking forward to many more successfully downed Russian aircraft in the future to work with!