Russia's S‑70 drone failure: Communication loss leads to costly self-inflicted blow
The Russians shot down their own S-70 drone, likely after losing communication, according to the British Ministry of Defence. "They probably waited until the last moment to decide to shoot it down," says London.
The British Ministry of Defence reported this on the X service, citing intelligence data.
According to British intelligence, on October 5, the Russians shot down their own S-70 Okhotnik drone while it was flying near the front line in the Donetsk region. "Most likely, Russia lost control of the unmanned vehicle and decided to destroy it to prevent it from falling into enemy hands," the report states.
British intelligence analysts suggest the Russians waited until the last possible moment to shoot down the drone. The decision must have been made after all attempts to regain control over it were exhausted.
Russian defeat. "Delay of the S-70 program"
"This highlights another costly and disgraceful failure in the development of Russian weapons, which will delay the S-70 program," according to British intelligence.
It's worth noting that the S-70, developed by the Sukhoi company, has been in development for at least ten years and was seen during tests at a Russian airbase in Akhtubinsk. The S-70 was intended to be developed with stealth technology to make it as difficult as possible for enemy radars to detect. The drone was designed to carry out long-distance strikes and potentially bypass enemy radars and air defence systems, reports the Ukrinform agency.
The drone was also supposed to work in conjunction with the Russian fifth-generation fighter - the Su-57. Ukrainian analysts recently reported that the production of the Su-57 has been halted due to problems acquiring Western components necessary for the aircraft's construction.
