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Russia confirms service entry target for Okhotnik UCAV

6th September 2019 - 16:56 GMT | by Alexander Mladenov in Sofia

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Russia’s first jet-powered unmanned combat air vehicle (UCAV) - Sukhoi S-70 Okhotnik (Hunter) - is set to enter service with the Russian Air and Space Force (RuASF) by 2025.

Exhaustive testing of the system will be required before then and prior to serial production, according to Yury Borisov, Russia’s deputy prime minister, responsible for overseeing the effort.

He explained that the majority of the Okhotnik’s flight test and evaluation programme will be carried out in 2023 and 2024, including strike missions with different types of weapons.

The UCAV took to the air for the first time on 3 August 2019 from the airfield

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Alexander Mladenov

Alexander Mladenov is a Shephard correspondent based in Sofia, Bulgaria.

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