The UAV will receive a new upgraded ground
control station to increase its effectiveness. “The work on ‘Okhotnik’ is one
of the key directions for Sukhoi and UAC,” Yuri Slyusar, the general director
of the UAC, said at the ceremony, according to a press release published by
Russian state conglomerate, Rostec.
According to UAC, serial drone production
should start in 2024, with the first delivery expected later the same year.
The Okhotnik has been under development
since at least 2011 when The Russian Defence Ministry selected Sukhoi to lead a
new heavy unmanned surveillance and attack drone programme. The new UCAV is
being jointly developed by MiG and Sukhoi, based on the earlier Mikoyan Skat
UCAV programme data. The work is carried out by the Novosibirsk Aircraft
Production Association (NAPO), part of the Sukhoi company. Russia identifies the
drone as a "sixth-generation unmanned aerial vehicle."
