A few days ago, a statement was made by Lieutenant General Sergei Dronov, Commander of the Air Force, Deputy Chief of the Russian Aerospace Forces., that heavy attack drones will begin to enter the troops in 2021 year. This statement was drew attention to the information mouthpiece of the Communist Party of China - the newspaper "People's Daily".
The publication noted, that today the arms race between the leading powers is unfolding in a number of directions, among which one of the highest priority is the creation of aviation drones. At the same time, People's Daily asked the question of whether, what was the Russian general guided by, when he made a statement about the imminent setting of a heavy multipurpose attack UAV into service with the Russian Aerospace Forces?
Further, trying to answer this question, Chinese authors consider an example of the Okhotnik UAV being tested in Russia, which is being developed according to the S-70 project. People's Daily celebrates, that the development of a heavy drone in Russia has been going on for many years. The "Skat" is given as a reference point – 10-a ton unmanned aerial vehicle with a practical ceiling in 12 km. noted, that the development of the "Skat" faced numerous difficulties, however, in the end it allowed me to gain important experience, implement technological developments, which are currently used for the implementation of the UAV project "Okhotnik".
Chinese observers note, that the newest Russian heavy drone is not only an attack, it combines the functions of carrying out intelligence.
At the same time, the greatest attention in the Chinese press is drawn to the possibility of using the Russian "Hunter" in a network-centric operation - when it is used in conjunction with combat aircraft, including 5th generation fighters. His tests are given as an example., when the UAV rose into the air in tandem with the Su-57 fighter.
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Technologies have made it possible to combine the "Okhotnik" and the Su-57 into a single system for performing combat missions. In this case, the fighter is able to obtain information about the targets, without entering the enemy's air defense zone. This allows you to strike with minimal risk for a fighter., and for the drone.
celebrated, that the Russian drone will improve the use of new Russian engines - Al-41F, allowing to increase such an indicator as thrust-to-weight ratio.
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The use of such a drone with the release of human resources is fully consistent with the concept of future wars.. No need to calculate the loads on the pilot's body when performing maneuvers, you can not use the life support system. Instead, the aircraft will carry more weapons and fuel on board.. This will increase both the radius of its combat use. (according to preliminary data, it is higher 4 thousand. km), and combat power.
