A Sukhoi S-70 Okhotnik heavy unmanned combat aerial vehicle after the first joint flight with a Sukhoi Su-57 jet fighter. Photo by TASS
Business Insider: Russia is talking about giving its stealthy 'Hunter' drone an air-to-air combat mission as a long-range interceptor
* The Russian Ministry of Defense has proposed expanding the role of the stealthy new Okhotnik (Hunter) drone to include long-range intercept missions, Russian state media reported.
* The Okhotnik could be tasked with targeting not only approaching fighter and bomber aircraft, but also the tankers and airborne early warning planes that support them.
* An aircraft industry source told the state-run TASS that the drone will rely on artificial intelligence to achieve a certain degree of warfighting autonomy.
* Like Russia, the US military is pursuing several lines of effort to field AI-driven autonomous aircraft for manned-unmanned teaming in combat operations.
Russia is considering giving the stealthy Okhotnik (Hunter) combat drone an air-to-air combat mission as a long-range interceptor, Russian state media reported this week.
The Russian defense ministry has proposed a concept of operations that would see the drone deployed forward with long-range weaponry to "attack air targets before they approach the air defense zone," an aircraft industry source told the TASS news agency.
While development of the flying-wing Okhotnik unmanned combat aerial vehicle (UCAV) began years earlier, it was not until January of last year that the world saw the first pictures of the drone.
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WNU Editor: From what I have read so far, they are a long way from making this drone a long-range interceptor.