S-70 Okhotnik-B

S-70 Okhotnik-B from Russia, designed by JSC Sukhoi Company and Mikoyan

Introduce:

The Sukhoi S-70 Okhotnik-B (Russian: Сухой С-70 “Охотник”, lit. ’Hunter’), also referred to as Hunter-B, is a Russian stealth heavy unmanned combat aerial vehicle (UCAV) being developed by Sukhoi and Russian Aircraft Corporation MiG as a sixth-generation aircraft project. The drone is based on the earlier Mikoyan Skat, designed by MiG, and encompassing some technologies of the fifth-generation Sukhoi Su-57 fighter jet.  In the future, it is planned to act under the control of pilots of Su-57 jets, similarly to the USAF Skyborg programme.

According to a Russian Ministry of Defense release, “The first flight took place at 12.20 Moscow time and lasted for over 20 minutes.” This first flight was designed to test the UCAV’s takeoff and landing capabilities. Okhotnik-B was controlled by a human operator throughout the flight, making several circles around the airfield at an altitude of 600 meters and then successfully landed. According to Tass news agency, quoting an unnamed industry source, more flights are scheduled this year to open the drone’s flight envelope and test its autonomous control capabilities levels. These could include full autonomous flight, from takeoff to landing.