Russia shot down its own advanced prototype drone over Ukraine

On October 5th, Russian forces shot down one of its most advanced drones while it was flying over the frontlines of Ukraine according to a recent assessment of what happened from the UK Ministry of Defence. 

Early October saw video footage emerge online allegedly showing a Russian fighter jet, likely an Su-57 Felon, shooting down what was later identified by several news sources as an S-70 Okhotnik-B (Hunter-B) unmanned combat air vehicle (UCAV). 

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Images of the downed Russian drone’s crash site quickly began circulating online that seemed to confirm that an S-70 had been downed, but the images only raised questions about why the Russian weapon was shot out of the sky. 

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Later images showed the twisted metal remains of the Russian drone, which crashed in the Donetsk region roughly 10 miles or 16 kilometers behind the Ukrainian frontlines in the region according to several reports. 

“The engagement occurred near Konstantynivka,” the War Zones reported. “Video shot from the ground shows one jet firing on another at close range, then a shattered flying wing aircraft falling to the ground.”

“Images and video of the wreckage make it undeniable, it was indeed an S-70,” added The War Zone, which also pointed out that the downed wreckage revealed several more secrets that the Russian S-70 was harboring. 

The War Zone later reported the downed S-70 was carrying at least one glide bomb and may have been “engaged in some kind of operational trials.” The news outlet suggested Russia was testing the S-70's ability to attack targets in “a contested environment.” 

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“Among the twisted and burnt remains of the drone, the nose cone from at least one example of the UMPB D-30SN winged precision-guided bomb can be clearly made out,” the War Zone reported. 

It was also theorized by the American news outlet that the S-70 was the fourth prototype of the weapon, which has the capability of firing air-to-air missiles. However, the reason why the Russian drone was shot down was only speculated about at the time. 

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On October 15th, the UK Ministry of Defense addressed the incident in its daily update on the war in Ukraine, noting that the S-70 was probably shot down after Russian forces lost control of the uncrewed vehicle over Ukraine. 

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“It is likely Russia waited to the last moment before choosing to engage the UCAV having exhausted attempts to bring it back under control,” the UK Defense Ministry update explained. 

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“This demonstrates yet another expensive and embarrassing failure of Russian weapons development and will almost certainly delay the S-70 programme,” the update added. 

The UK Defense Ministry noted that the S-70 has been in development by Sukhoi for at least a decade and was designed to work in tandem with the country’s advanced Su-57 Felon stealth fifth-generation fighter jet. 

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Air & Space Forces Magazine noted that one Pentagon source said the loss of an S-70 and the capture of its wreckage by Ukrainian forces would provide “tremendous insight” into the current level of Russian stealth technology. 

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The S-70 may be an uncrewed combat air vehicle similar to a drone but the advanced Russian weapon is a large piece of equipment with a wingspan of 65 feet or roughly 20 meters. 

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“It was developed over the past 12-14 years, and underwent flight tests between 2019 and 2023. It has been speculated that limited series production was to begin in the second half of calendar 2024,” Air & Space Forces Magazine reported. 

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Photo Credit: Wiki Commons By Mil.ru, CC BY 4.0