What happened a few days ago near Konstantinovka was unprecedented. Based on the fallen debris, intrigued Ukrainian specialists soon realized that they had witnessed the destruction of the latest Russian weapons.
What happened a few days ago near the Ukrainian city of Konstantinovka was unprecedented. Based on the fallen debris, intrigued Ukrainian specialists soon realized that they had witnessed the destruction of the latest Russian weapons.
First, two plumes appeared in the sky above the front line in eastern Ukraine, traces of jet engines, which, as a rule, means that Russian planes are about to attack. But further, tells BB.LV, the lower trail split into two parts, an object quickly accelerated towards the upper trail, and when they crossed, a bright orange flash lit up the sky…
Many tried to explain what happened, choosing from previously known versions: either a Russian military plane shot down another as a result of so-called friendly fire 20 km from the front line, or a Ukrainian plane shot down a Russian one. But in fact it turned out that it was an S-70 stealth combat drone.
This is an unusual drone – a heavy unmanned vehicle the size of a fighter jet, but without a cockpit, called the “Hunter”. It is extremely difficult to detect, and the developers claim that it has “almost no analogues” in the world.
This may be true, but in this case he clearly lost his way, and it appears that the second white mark in the sky visible in the video came from a Russian Su-57 aircraft, which was apparently chasing the drone. It is possible that the Russian aircraft was trying to re-establish contact with the stray drone, but since they were both flying into Ukrainian air defense coverage, it is believed that the decision was made to destroy the Okhotnik to prevent it from falling into enemy hands.
Officially, neither Moscow nor Kyiv commented on what happened in the skies over Konstantinovka. However, experts believe the Russians likely lost control of their drone, possibly due to interference from Ukrainian electronic warfare (EW) systems.
Many different drones have already been used in this war, but nothing like the Russian S-70. It weighs more than 20 tons and is believed to have a range of up to 6 thousand km. Shaped like an arrow, the Hunter is similar to the US X-47B, another stealth combat drone created a decade ago. The Okhotnik can carry bombs and missiles to destroy both ground and air targets, as well as conduct reconnaissance. It is important that it is capable of working in conjunction with Russian fifth-generation fighters Su-57.
Development of the “Hunter” has been ongoing since 2012, its first flight took place in 2019. However, until last weekend, there was no evidence that these drones were used by Russia during the two-and-a-half year war in Ukraine.
Earlier this year, he was reportedly spotted at the Akhtubinsk airfield in southern Russia, which serves as one of the launch pads for airstrikes in Ukraine. Therefore, it is not at all excluded that the unsuccessful flight over Konstantinovka was one of the first attempts by the Russian Federation to test its new weapon in combat conditions.
It is reported that debris from one of the most destructive Russian long-range glide bombs, the D-30, was found at the Okhotnik crash site.
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