S-70 Okhotnik drone shootdown over DPR: What happened?

Western intelligence services may obtain important and valuable information about Russian defence technology in case they obtain the wreckage of Russia's state-of-the-art S-70 Okhotnik (Hunter) drone, The War Zone (TWZ) says.

It is believed that Western specialists already have wreckage of the Russian drone at their disposal. Allegedly, the Okhotnik drone was shot down in the zone of the special military operation in Ukraine. It was said that it was a Russian Sukhoi Su-57 fighter that shot the S-70 drone after Russian operators lost control of the UAV.

The S-70 UAV allegedly crashed near the settlement of Konstantinovka on Ukraine-controlled territory of the Donetsk People's Republic. The video of the wreckage confirms that it was the Okhotnik, Tyler Rogoway of TWZ said.

Rogoway suggested the S-70 was used in combat as part of its ongoing development. Russian operators may have lost control of the UAV, and the drone deviated from its course over the Ukraine-controlled territory. It was eventually decided to shoot the drone down, Rogoway wrote.

Shooting down one's own drones is commonplace practice that the United States has repeatedly resorted to as well, the author noted.

"A very sensitive drone like the S-70 lost deep inside Ukrainian territory, coming down possibly in a semi-intact state, would be a huge problem for Russia, both technologically and optics-wise, so it seems the decision was made to destroy it. We can all remember when the U. S. lost its far more secretive RQ-170 to Iran in 2011, for example," Rogoway said.

Russian war correspondents also report the loss of Okhotnik

On October 5, it was reported that the Russian Armed Forces lost a state-of-the-art S-70 Okhotnik drone. Military correspondent Alexander Kots and a number of Russian Telegram channels reported the news.

A video showing the crashing UAV appeared on the Internet.

"Reports from the scene: our state-of-the-art heavy attack drone S-70 Okhotnik was lost near Konstantinovka. Eyewitness videos say that this is most likely the case — the silhouette of the falling vehicle is very similar to the silhouette of this drone," military correspondent Alexander Kots wrote.

According to him, a lead fighter fired an air-to-air missile to shoot the drone down. Telegram channel Two Majors reported the same.

Details

The Sukhoi S-70 Okhotnik-B, also referred to as Hunter-B, is a Russian heavy unmanned combat aerial vehicle (UCAV) that was being developed during the 2010s by Sukhoi and Russian Aircraft Corporation MiG. Several prototypes underwent flight testing in 2019–2023 and, as of January 2024, it was projected that production could begin as early as the second half of 2024. The drone is based on the earlier Mikoyan Skat, designed by MiG, encompassing some technologies of the fifth-generation Sukhoi Su-57 fighter jet. As of 2021, it was projected to act under the control of pilots of Su-57 jets in a potential future version, similar to the USAF Skyborg program. First operational use was reported in July 2023 as a reconnaissance flight over Ukraine during the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and an S-70 was shot down over Ukraine in October 2024.