Many aspects of a sixth-generation drone are present in it. In the future, it will be able to travel into space in addition to having limited visibility and supersonic speed. But that depends on the engines that have yet to be built, the expert Knutov stated.
Additionally, Knutov made explicit allusions to the Su-57, the Okhotnik, and their devoted wingmen/manned-unmanned teaming's intended mission profiles. The Su-57 can command a horde of Okhotnik drones, and this combination creates excellent potential for resolving tactical combat tasks.
The 'Hunter' is constructed in a similar manner to the Su-57. And in Ukraine, Su-57 aircraft completed their combat missions without being noticed, Knutov continued.
As a result, it appears that the Okhotnik team and the Su-57 will either destroy crucial strategic targets, such as NATO command centres and civilian-military targets, or make way for large bombers, such as the Tupolev Tu-160, Tu-22, or MiG-31, that can carry the Kh-101 cruise missile or the Kinzhal hypersonic missile, to deploy their payload.None of the NATO nations, according to Vladimir Artyakov, first deputy director general of the Rostec State Corporation, have UCAV systems that can compete with the Okhotnik.With the promise of starting serial production by 2023 and the introduction of a model with a flatter nozzle in December 2021, the drone has moved swiftly. Sergei Chemezov, the CEO of Rostec, provided the information to President Vladimir Putin.
Chemezov said that a new ground control station was being developed for the drone and that it might begin reaching Russian Air Force (or Voenno-vozdushnye sily Rossii, VVS) personnel by 2024. On August 3, 2019, the experimental prototype flew for more than 20 minutes for the first time. A few months later, a 30-minute flight next to the Su-57 fighter was reported. In December 2020, RIA Novosti reported that Okhotnik tested the UCAV's fire-control systems at the 185th Combat Application and Training Center in Ashuluk using simulated tests with infrared (IR) and radar-seeker air-to-air missiles. According to a report from January 2021, it performed its first live-fire test by dropping unguided bombs on a target at the Ashuluk training facility close to the Caspian Sea.
SEAD would be where the Su-57 and S-70 teams would be used first, and DEAD roles are largely confirmed. This is also the case because US plans for devoted wingmen using F-35s depict destroying dense air defences by using UAVs for ISR functions, decoys, and limited weapon discharge. "The S-70's potential to travel to other planets comes from sources who are not directly engaged with the project and should therefore be treated with caution.