Wednesday afternoon, October 5, reports on mass and social media said russian invasion forces in Ukraine had lost another Su-25 attack aircraft. The photos and videos attached depicted an unidentified aerial vehicle falling after being shot, as claimed, by a russian Su-57's friendly fire.
After closer analysis of the footage, ZN.ua and a number of other sources concluded it was an S-70 Okhotnik unmanned combat aerial vehicle.
Read more: Over 12 Years in Development, russian S-70 Okhotnik Project Proceeds "According to Plan," Manufacturer Says
CONFIRMED: Russian “Hunter” Sukhoi S-70 Okhotnik-B UCAV was shot down by Russian Su-57 fighter jet with AA missile.Why?No answer, for now. https://t.co/mpPpc0LvtG pic.twitter.com/foCGeO5igZ — Clash Report (@clashreport) October 5, 2024
Worth noting, the friendly fire version remains unconfirmed. Multiple videos on the web show an aircraft chasing and shooting down another one in the sky but the details of the incident are vague so far.
Spectacular footage of a jet downing a Russian S-70 "Okhotnik". There are currently conflicting reports regarding the shooting plane. In one instance it is claimed to be an Ukrainian jet, others claim it was a Russian plane, shooting down the malfunctioning UAV so that it does… pic.twitter.com/nCLTGMh0WJ — (((Tendar))) (@Tendar) October 5, 2024
Regardless, in this case, the target itself is more interesting than the circumstances, as the S-70 Okhotnik is a rare novel aircraft, with only a handful of units produced as test articles for the russian military.
Notably, the russian sources portray the news in a positive light, since it was "just" an uncrewed vehicle that was lost, no pilots killed in action. Military blogger Fighterbomber confirms the loss of the S-70 and claims that UCAVs like Okhotnik and Orion are already used "en masse" in Ukraine.
The statement, however, contradicts the available data on the S-70 Okhotnik project. Open sources indicate that the entire russian inventory comprises three prototype units of this UCAV, and three more test products are under construction.
There's also a long road ahead before mass production starts, as russian officials have repeatedly postponed its launch. The last time the topic was brought up, Okhotnik was expected to hit series in 2025, although we should mention promises to accelerate the process and start mass-making the drone in the 2nd half of 2024.
Perhaps, the russian military decided to have a real-combat test run before starting mass production, and deployed one or more units for missions in Ukraine. This is the first time an S-70 Okhotnik is seen operating in Ukrainian skies, and there's no information on how long this UAV had performed missions before it was shot down.
Read more: Ukrainian Forces' Drones Attack Borisoglebsk Military Airbase, Striking Mysterious Containers - Satellite Images
