Russian Okhotnik combat drone develops speed of up to 200 km at trials

The Russian combat UAV Okhotnik developed a speed of up to 200 km/h on the runway during its first trial, which took place at the Novosibirsk Aircraft Plant in November, a source in the aircraft-building industry told Tass. "The pre-production model of the Okhotnik unmanned aerial vehicle made its first run on the runway of the Novosibirsk Aircraft Plant. It developed a speed of 200 km/h in accordance with the program of trials. The drone did not go aloft," the source said. According to him, the Okhotnik carried out all the operations independently in the autonomous regime.

 Okhotnik combat UAV (Picture source: Russia Business Today)

The Okhotnik is expected to make a few more runs on the plant’s runway without separation from the ground. The next stage is called ‘bouncing’: the drone will go aloft, fly several meters over the runway and land immediately. The first full-fledged test flight will take place afterwards, the source clarified.

The contract for developing the Okhotnik combat drone weighing 20 tons was signed between the military agency and the Sukhoi Company in 2011. The mockup drone was created for trials in 2014, the open sources said. According to unconfirmed sources, the Okhotnik is made of composite materials and a radar-absorbing coat. It has a jet power plant and is supposed to develop a speed of up to 1,000 kilometers. Possibly, Russia is developing a drone identical to such foreign analogues as X-47B (Northrop Grumman) and Phantom Ray (Boeing). Both drones are made according to the "flying wing" scheme and have a takeoff weight of 20 and 16 tons, respectively.