As the Kyiv Post reported, video clips surfaced on social media on Saturday, October 5, showing a Su-57 twin-engine stealth multirole fighter aircraft (NATO: Felon) attacking an experimental Sukhoi S-57 unmanned combat aircraft. 70 Okhotnik (Hunter) shoots down vehicle (UCAV drone) it was escorting after it malfunctioned.

Apparently the Su-57 and S-70 Okhotnik combat conditions tests/operations went wrong.

The Su-57 lost control of the S-70 loyal wingman and was forced to shoot him down. The crash site is located in Kostiantynivka, Donetsk Oblast. pic.twitter.com/GRPiOEqNdd

– Dhimas Afihandarin (@Flankerchan) October 5, 2024

According to radio recordings from the Russian flight control center, the drone began to malfunction and as the Su-57 pilot was unable to regain radio control, fears grew that the drone was about to enter Ukrainian-controlled airspace , he was ordered to use a short-range air-to-air missile to shoot it down.

The drone crashed in Kostiantynivka, and contrary to reports at the time, the drone actually crashed in an area controlled by the Ukrainian Armed Forces (AFU), which recovered the wreckage and took it away for examination.

Initial assessments suggest that, as is often the case during the ongoing war with Russia, Moscow’s claims about the advanced technology and capabilities of its latest weapons are considered “exaggerated,” and it appears that the S-70 was one of them.

The Kremlin has touted the S-70 UCAV as the unmanned, stealthy wingman of its fifth-generation Su-57 multirole fighter jet. An initial investigation appears to show that it contains neither invisibility materials nor the necessary manufacturing tolerances, nor does it contain any AI-supported communication or control systems.

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According to a Ukrainian expert quoted by the military website Defense Blog, the UCAV was nowhere near as sophisticated or advanced as advertised. He said: “This is not an advanced combat drone. It is more like a glider equipped with basic flight capabilities and radio controls.”

While much of the wreckage was damaged by fire after it crashed into a house on the ground, much material has already been recovered that could potentially provide useful technical information, including a nearly intact wing.

The remains of a Russian UMPB D-30SN glide bomb weighing 250 kilograms (550 pounds) were found among the rubble, believed to be one of the S -70 that she is supposed to carry.

The fact that the S-70, which was stationed with the Su-57 at Akhtubinsk Air Base, some 600 kilometers (375 miles) from the front, was carrying at least one live bomb, suggests that this was the case Flight was more than just an operational test. The mission was probably intended to test their capabilities in a “live fire” combat situation – if so, it failed.