Attack drone S-70 Okhotnik-B: Russia shoots down its own “super drone” over Ukraine

Shortly before noon on Saturday, an aircraft was shot down over Kostiantynivka (Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine). The Ukrainian side initially claimed the kill: the aircraft hit was said to be a Russian Su-25 that had previously bombed Kramatorsk. It soon emerged, however, that no Su-25 had crashed and Ukrainian air defence had scored no success – a Russian attack drone had been brought down.

As the many photos and videos since published show, it was in fact a prototype of the Sukhoi S-70 Okhotnik-B heavy attack drone (C-70 “Охотник”). Sukhoi had unveiled the prototype of the new stealth drone at the end of 2021.

According to the videos, the huge stealth drone was apparently shot down at high altitude by an escorting aircraft. Russian bloggers and military journalists conclude that Russia considered the shootdown necessary: the drone had gone out of control and was on the wrong course, and the technology was not to fall into enemy hands. The wreck, however, came down around 20 kilometres west of Bakhmut – on territory held by Ukraine.

Which aircraft type fired is unclear for now. The obvious candidate would be the Sukhoi Su-57 (NATO reporting name Felon), as Okhotnik is intended to operate together with this Russian stealth multirole fighter.

Attack drone Okhotnik: profile of the “Hunter”

Sukhoi had been developing the drone since 2012. In 2018 the first of what are so far four prototypes of the heavy Okhotnik attack drone was completed, followed by the maiden flight on 27 September 2019. The flying wing is estimated to be about 14 metres long, with a wingspan of around 19 metres. Take-off weight is about 20 tonnes; an internal weapons bay can carry missiles and bombs weighing two tonnes in total. The drone is powered by a jet engine, and its range is said to be around 6,000 kilometres.

According to Russian sources, it has advanced control and communication systems that allow it to cooperate with crewed fighter jets – the Su-30SM2 and Su-57 fighters were named.

The pairing of the Sukhoi Su-57 and Sukhoi S-70 Okhotnik-B in particular is seen as a great hope of the Russian Air Force: together, the two are meant to penetrate enemy air defence systems very effectively. As a “loyal wingman”, the drone is to reconnoitre enemy airspace, designate targets and also engage them itself with high-precision weapons.

The drone is built at the V.P. Chkalov aircraft plant in Novosibirsk (NAPO). According to recent reports, series production is said to have begun there in this half-year.

What the wreckage could reveal

Because the wreckage lies on Ukrainian territory, Western experts are likely to examine it closely soon. Anyone familiar with aircraft accident investigations knows that, with enough effort, valuable insights into the state of Russian military aviation technology can be gained even from such scrap.

Russian blogs say: “They will take it apart down to the smallest screw and, of course, familiarise themselves with the rich contents.” The marking “C-70-4” can be read on the wreck. This suggests that it is the most recent of the four Okhotnik drones built so far.

What ultimately caused the drone's failure is not yet known. A serious technical malfunction is conceivable. Equally possible are Ukrainian electronic countermeasures against the signals between the lead aircraft and the drone, combined with spoofing (signal falsification) of the global navigation satellite system (GNSS), which feeds the drone a false position and thus steers it in the wrong direction.

Okhotnik flights over Ukraine have been documented since 2023, as a kind of “frontline trial”. In theory, control signals could therefore have been intercepted and analysed. So far, neither side has issued an official statement.