Although much of the aircraft was destroyed, the S-70’s outer wing landed largely unscathed, and the engine, although shattered on impact, remained largely in one piece. Parts of a Russian glide bomb were found among the rubble.

A former Pentagon official told Air & Space Forces Magazine that the wreckage could provide “tremendous insight” into the state of Russian drone and stealth technology, given that the S-70 is not believed to be in mass production yet became. After reviewing images of the wreckage, the official said the drone “obviously doesn’t show us” advanced, low-observability technology. Laboratory analyzes are required to assess the materials used in construction.

He speculated that the debris could confirm whether technology recovered after the crash of a U.S. Air Force RQ-170 drone in Iran in 2011 had been reverse-engineered by Iran and/or Russia, which have collaborated on drone projects. Iran has been supplying Russia with drones for both reconnaissance and attack since the start of the Ukraine campaign.

It is not clear why Russia shot down the drone, but it is possible that the operators lost control of the aircraft during a test over Russia. It is also possible that the aircraft was conducting a live operational test to see how it performed against Ukrainian air defenses.

The Su-57 and S-70 were observed flying together, and the Russian Defense Ministry has previously released photos of the duo in flight, suggesting they could form a manned and unmanned air defense and air strike team. Russian officials said the Okhotnik could “extend” the range of the Su-57 radar.

However, a former senior Air Force official said that the S-70 was clearly “not escorting” the Su-57 and they were not conducting a manned-unmanned teaming mission. He also rejected the idea that the S-70 would test the same capabilities intended for the U.S. Air Force’s emerging Collaborative Combat Aircraft program.

“I wouldn’t say it was a ‘CCA’ at all…rather it was a UCAV (Unmanned Combat Air Vehicle) that lost control and the Russians sent a Su-57 to shoot it down,” said he.

A military aerospace analyst familiar with Russia’s drone program said: “China is pursuing CCA – we know that. Russia, not so much.”

The S-70 is a large aircraft with a 65-foot wingspan. It was developed over the last 12 to 14 years and underwent flight tests between 2019 and 2023. Limited-edition production was speculated to begin in the second half of the 2024 calendar, so it is possible that the mission was a development or operational test before production began.

The former Pentagon official said it was also surprising that the Russians exposed their Su-57s to Ukrainian air defenses, since Russia only has about 30 Felons, a dozen of which are test-configured and the rest are operational.

“You must have had a good reason,” he said.

It is also possible, although unlikely, that the entire incident was staged. In this case, Russia may have intentionally placed an outdated or intentionally misleading airframe in Western hands to trick Ukraine’s and NATO’s air defenses into wasting their effort looking for a drone “that won’t come,” the official suggested before.