Installing self destruct for drones is not an unnecessary program
Author: Golden Bomber
Not long ago, the Russian Aerospace Forces' most advanced stealth drone S70 "Hunter" with a flying wing layout crashed in Konstantinovka, eastern Ukraine.
According to the Russian description, the drone was involved in actual combat at the time, but due to technical malfunctions or signal interference, the Russian side lost control of it. Su-57 had no choice but to catch up from behind and launched two close range air-to-air missiles before the drone completely flew into the control area of the Ukrainian anti-aircraft missile unit. One of the missiles accurately hit the "Hunter" and shot it down. Unfortunately, despite such remedial measures, the remains of the 'Hunter' still fell within the controlled area of the Ukrainian military. The Ukrainian military dispatched a small team to the scene as soon as possible to pick up the wreckage of the drone. It is estimated that the components have been sent to American research institutions for in-depth analysis through communication with the US military. This incident undoubtedly caused heavy losses to the Russian military. Russia's face is very ugly, not to mention the negative impact caused by technology leaks, which is now incalculable.
The "Hunter" drone is a fairly cutting-edge stealth drone, and the word "cutting-edge" means that in addition to being advanced, its technology is also not mature enough. The "Hunter" drone made its debut in 2019, and various paper data released by the Russian side show that it has achieved unparalleled performance. Firstly, let's talk about stealth performance. As the "Hunter" is a drone, its size is smaller and there is no need to consider the structure of the cockpit, which greatly affects stealth performance. Therefore, the stealth layout can also be made more extreme. The frontal radar cross-section of the F-22 fighter jet is approximately 0.01 square meters, and it is believed that the data from the Hunter has reached or even exceeded this level.
In order to achieve ultimate stealth capability, the S-70's body material is coated with stealth absorbing coatings, and the engine's tail nozzle adopts a rectangular and very visible circular nozzle. The latter technology was once standard on the F-22 fighter jet, but now it has been "deployed" by Russia to unmanned aerial vehicles. Secondly, the Hunter UAV uses almost the same engine as the Su-57 fighter. The only difference between the two is that the Hunter's engine has no afterburner. Combined with its wing layout, its maneuverability is very strong.