Why Did Russia Just Shoot Down Its Own Fighter-Sized S-70 Hunter Drone Over Ukraine?
A bizarre situation emerged out of Eastern Ukraine this morning, one in which a Russian fighter fired a short-range air-to-air missile and shot down one of its own aircraft while flying over highly-defended Ukrainian territory. And this wasn’t just any aircraft, it was one of a tiny handful of Russian Air Force S-70 Okhotnik-B (Hunter-B) flying wing unmanned combat air vehicle (UCAV).
Russian S-70 UAV, which was shot down today [The photos has been cleaned by artificial intelligence] https://t.co/Jec6rz1jPM pic.twitter.com/banwvy8oLy
I can confirm, based on footage from @PEnssle, that Ukrainian forces have already recovered and removed large, relatively intact pieces of the advanced Russian S-70 Okhotnik UCAV that crashed in Donetsk Oblast. Notably including the wing segment seen in this video. pic.twitter.com/7Z9yDgKfab
CONFIRMED: Russian “Hunter” Sukhoi S-70 Okhotnik-B UCAV was shot down by Russian Su-57 fighter jet with AA missile. Why? No answer, for now. https://t.co/mpPpc0LvtG pic.twitter.com/foCGeO5igZ
