Military expert Murakhovsky called the lower visibility an advantage of the S-70 Hunter UAV
Viktor Murakhovsky, a military expert and member of the Expert Council of the Board of the Military-Industrial Commission of the Russian Federation, called the advantage of the newest S-70 Hunter attack drone equipped with a flat jet nozzle. The UAV is designed in such a way that it will be less noticeable in the radar and infrared ranges than previous versions of the aircraft, the expert said in a conversation with <url>.
Earlier, the Novosibirsk Aviation Plant (NAZ) named after Chkalov [...] rolled out the first flight sample of the newest Russian strike drone S-70 "Hunter". This was stated by Deputy Head of the Ministry of Defense Alexey Krivoruchko.
He explained that the rollout records the completion of the assembly of the product, its equipment and the transition to complex ground testing to prepare for the first flight. It is noted that this is the first instance of the Hunter equipped with a flat jet nozzle for reduced radar visibility.
Less visibility
Previous versions of the Hunter have already flown independently and paired with the Su-57, Murakhovsky said. The version that was rolled out on December 14 differs from the previous ones with a flat nozzle, he noted. "This nozzle reduces radar visibility and thermal exhaust, blurs it, which reduces visibility in the infrared range," the expert shared.
For the Russian armed forces, this is the first device of its kind. "As for jet drones of this class. They are being developed in the United States of America and in China, but no one has drones with such characteristics yet," Murakhovsky stressed.
The device is at the stage of completion of experimental design work and factory flight tests, a member of the Expert Council of the Board of the Military-Industrial Commission of the Russian Federation shared. "He has not yet entered the state tests. And according to the plans, as far as I understand, this will take another couple of years, so that if they are successfully completed, the armed forces will begin purchasing such devices," the military expert suggested.
Murakhovsky stressed that a drone of this class can solve almost any tasks performed by a manned fighter. "This is reconnaissance, targeting, fighting with means of air attack, striking at ground and flood targets. Since the drone is a fairly large machine, I think it will be able to carry the entire range of aviation weapons characteristic of manned fighters, for example, for the Su-57," the expert added his answer.
In October, the chief designer of the S-70, Sergey Bibikov, revealed the features of the drone. He pointed out that the drone received an information management system (IUS) with artificial intelligence. This allows the "Hunter" to act in conditions of loss of communication with the operator. "It fully performs the functions of the crew at least for the safe return of the device to the home point," the designer explained.
