It is no coincidence that the first flight of the Hunter drone took place on the same day that the Treaty on the Elimination of Intermediate-Range and Shorter-range Missiles ceased to operate, an American expert worries. In an article by The National Interest, he analyzes the advantages of Russian development.
Sebastien Roblin
Is this really an important event?
The main idea: The Russian S-70 Hunter UAV looks promising and is very similar to the American low-profile drones. However, it needs serious refinement to make it as inconspicuous as it should be.
On August 7, 2019, the Russian Ministry of Defense posted on the Internet a video of the first flight of the prototype of the newest unmanned aerial vehicle "Hunter", which he had made five days earlier. This "flying wing" type drone circled for about 20 minutes at an altitude of about 600 meters above the Chkalov State Flight Test Center in Astrakhan, after which it landed.
The Hunter is a heavy attack UAV of the flying wing type (or a heavy "strike reconnaissance unmanned aerial vehicle"). This means that the S-70 is an inconspicuous drone capable of carrying out deadly attacks, as well as performing an intelligence function and serving as a means of electronic warfare.
Although the development of the Hunter began back in 2011, the public first saw it on January 23, 2019, when photos appeared online of a tractor pulling one of these drones along a strip in Novosibirsk.
Then on May 14, the Hunter was photographed at the Chkalov Flight Test Center when President Vladimir Putin arrived there. Although at that moment Putin praised primarily the capabilities of the low-profile Su-57 fighter, which has already been launched into mass production, he also mentioned the capabilities of the S-70 UAV.
Judging by satellite images, compared with the Su-27 ("Flanker" according to the NATO codification) aircraft standing next to it, this drone is quite large, and its wingspan is about 19 meters. According to Jane's edition, it weighs about 20 tons, and it is capable of developing high subsonic speed. The spacious fuselage of this drone has two internal compartments capable of accommodating more than 2 tons of weapons or specialized equipment, as well as the amount of fuel that will allow this drone to fly about 6 thousand kilometers. This attack UAV has a complex surface covered with radio-absorbing materials, which minimizes its visibility.
The configuration of the wing and the engine hidden in the fuselage of this Russian UAV is very similar to the inconspicuous drone of the US Air Force RQ-170, the existence of which became widely known only after one of these drones fell into the hands of the Iranians. And Russia has carefully studied this American UAV.
Flying wing aircraft without a tail are often characterized by aerodynamic instability, and the idea of developing such aircraft became truly realistic only with the advent of computerized electro-remote control systems capable of automatically compensating for this instability. Thus, this first flight was primarily intended to demonstrate the flight suitability of this UAV and its control systems. Earlier, the Hunter, according to some reports, underwent taxiing tests, as well as tests during which it first rose into the air, and a few seconds later dropped back onto its three landing gear supports.
Although during the tests on August 2, the Hunter was remotely controlled by a pilot, the publication Russia Beyond stated that it is a "fully robotic" UAV that is capable of performing operations autonomously: that is, instead of being under human control, the Hunter, thanks to the on-board AI system, is able to dynamically respond to changing circumstances and perform a predefined operation. In this case, the Hunter will not be connected to the pilot by a signal transmission line, which cannot be completely protected from interference or hacking.
However, David Axe from the National Interest publication points out that a fully autonomous system may pose an even greater technical challenge than the development of an unobtrusive aircraft airframe.
"When it comes to using fast UAVs with weapons on board to perform military tasks, the most difficulties arise with communication, flight control systems and computer algorithms, as well as with techniques and tactics for controlling UAVs at long distances in an oversaturated airspace where manned aircraft and other forces are present."
Low-profile drones and the INF treaty
It is quite possible that it is no coincidence that the first flight of the Hunter on August 2, 2019 took place on the same day that the Treaty on the Elimination of Intermediate-Range and Shorter-Range Missiles ceased to operate.
The Trump administration referred to the fact that Russia violated the terms of this treaty by placing long-range cruise missiles on the Iskander-M, and Moscow in response complained that many American long-range drones should be considered as "cruise missiles", which the INF treaty prohibits.
American Reaper reconnaissance and strike UAVs are not inconspicuous drones, however, Russia may well be worried that such inconspicuous drones as the RQ-170 can be modified to deliver sudden deadly strikes.
The fact that Moscow did not keep its Hunter project a closely guarded secret may serve as evidence that it wanted to show Russian and foreign observers its ability to launch the same unexpected attacks using low-profile UAVs that it fears from the United States.
Nevertheless, Russia's claims about the invisibility of the "Hunter" do not seem to be very justified. The air intake and jet nozzle of its AL-31F ventral turbofan engine - exactly the same is installed on the inconspicuous Su-57 fighter - cannot be called optimal for an inconspicuous UAV. It is worth noting that the "Hunter" will be especially noticeable from the tail side.
Although this problem is typical for the inconspicuous Su-57 fighter, it represents a more serious flaw in the case of a drone that must invisibly penetrate enemy airspace (where it will have to fly past radars and patrol aircraft that will scan it from all sides) than with a fighter whose function is to inflict impact followed by withdrawal.
The Hunter's combat load of 2 tons cannot be called particularly large either. Although Professor Vadim Kozyulin told Russia Beyond that the Hunter is capable of carrying unguided fragmentation bombs and explosive aerosol mixtures, such a small combat load means that the drone will have to carry nuclear missiles or precision guided missiles to guarantee the significant destructive effect of its attacks. This is reminiscent of the situation with the first inconspicuous fighter of the American Air Force, the F-117 Nighthawk, which could carry only two laser-guided bombs and deliver precision strikes on a small number of targets.
Both Joseph Trevithick from the Drive publication and Michael Kofman from the Center for Naval Research suggested that the C-70 could serve as a "faithful assistant": one or two UAVs associated with a manned fighter (for example, the Su-57) would serve as a kind of "pioneers", carrying out risky attacks and probing the situation while the manned fighter will be safe. Indeed, there are rumors that the Hunter will work in conjunction with the Su-57.
Although at first the Russian press focused on the shock functions of the Hunter, it recently called it a platform for conducting reconnaissance and electronic warfare with a long flight duration. In this case, it can penetrate enemy airspace and interfere with the operation of radars and signal transmission, thus opening a "window" for missiles and manned fighters.
The effectiveness of the Hunter in carrying out missions with deep penetration into enemy airspace will depend on whether Russian engineers try to improve the airframe of this UAV by changing the engine configuration. However, even with a low class of stealth, the S-70 can serve as a useful tool for Russia to carry out reconnaissance and strike missions with a long flight duration - according to some reports, this is exactly what Russia lacked during its air operations against the Syrian rebels.
Of course, the success of the Hunter project will also depend on Moscow's ability to continue financing the development of this UAV and its production - and this is quite an important factor given that the implementation of some other major programs of the Russian Ministry of Defense has repeatedly fallen behind schedule.
Sebastien Roblin holds a master's degree from Georgetown University in conflict resolution. He worked as a university instructor in the Peace Corps in China. Roblin regularly publishes articles on security and military history on the War is Boring website.
