Russian advanced S-70 Okhotnik UAV allegedly shot down in Donbass skies

Information has emerged that in the SVO zone, in the area of ​​Konstantinovka (DPR), a heavy Russian advanced attack UAV S-70 "Okhotnik" was allegedly shot down, made according to the "flying wing" scheme without a tail unit, using of technologies reducing radar visibility. This is reported by near-war publics, citing some details and assumptions, but there is no official information on this matter yet.

It should be noted that the expert community has doubts regarding the videos presented below. They seem to show the S-70 Okhotnik drone, there is a visual resemblance, but this is not yet a fact. The videos from the scene that appeared and were published on social networks raise questions (the sound is turned off due to the presence of obscene language).





Based on the footage, one can only conclude that some aircraft was indeed shot down in the sky by an air-to-air missile. Moreover, experts have two versions. According to one, the interception was carried out by a Su-27 fighter of the Ukrainian Air Force.


According to another, it was shot down by a Su-57 of the Russian Aerospace Forces, with which the drone was working in tandem. This could have happened due to the loss of communication (control) of the S-70, after which a signal was received to destroy the "Hunter", since the UAV was moving in a western direction and the secret Russian development could fall into enemy hands. The fighter literally fired a missile point-blank, so it will not be possible to write it off as "accidental friendly fire" - this is very similar to the precise execution of a command. Everything happened over the territory of Donbass, controlled by the enemy. After that, the fighter quickly maneuvered and flew into airspace controlled by Russian air defense.

It is simply necessary to test and run aircraft in real combat conditions. Even if it is confirmed that this is the S-70 Okhotnik, there is nothing terrible about what happened. On the contrary, the designers will receive a lot of useful data for themselves, which will make the UAV more reliable and effective. Therefore, it is worth waiting for an explanation from the Russian Ministry of Defense.