It’s pretty obvious why the Russian air force is keen to develop a two-seat version of its single-seat Su-57 stealth fighter. The air force plans to pair the Su-57 with the S-70 Okhotnik drone. But the drone lacks autonomy. That means whoever is aboard the Su-57 might also have to steer the S-70, one input at a time.
If that’s the case, it’d be really helpful to have a second set of hands and eyes in the manned plane.
“The defense ministry and the Sukhoi Design Bureau have plans to develop a two-pilot aircraft,”
Yuri Borisov, Russia’s deputy prime minister, in June while discussing the Su-57. Borisov claimed, without explaining why, that a two-seat Su-57 would be attractive on the export market.
But the benefit to the Russian air force is clear. Around the same time as Borisov’s announcement, an industry source state media the plan was for Russia’s Su-57s each to control between two and four S-70s.
The jet-propelled Okhotnik flew for the first time in August 2019. A subsonic flying-wing with some stealth qualities, the S-70 is in roughly the performance class as the Valkyrie wingman drone the U.S. Air Force is developing as part of its Skyborg initiative.
The idea is for self-guiding S-70s eventually to fly alongside manned Su-57 stealth fighters. But that demands sophisticated artificial intelligence. Where the U.S. Air Force as part of its Skyborg effort is focusing on developing the A.I., the Russians appear to be focusing on the airframe.
Several S-70s are under construction at the Novosibirsk Aviation Plant. Some time next year, they could join the single Okhotnik that’s already undergoing flight testing.
“We hope that by 2022 the work will be completed and we will be able to sign … a large, long-term contract,” Shoigu said.
The Americans meanwhile don’t have firm plans to transition Skyborg to a production program. The A.I. isn’t ready.
The Russians for their part don’t seem to mind pushing ahead without full autonomy. The Kremlin “claims that Okhotnik will have A.I., but offers little detail beyond such statements,” Bendett said.
“Presumably, the [defense ministry] is working on different types of algorithms that would allow S-70 to fly, navigate and possibly engage targets on its own after the human operator would approve flight patterns and target-selection and -recognition,” Bendett added.
But that’s all just conjecture. The American Skyborg already has begun rigorous autonomy trials. But the Russian wingman drone apparently still relies on a human operator who directly controls it.
Autonomy isn’t the S-70’s only problem. The drone with its 46-foot wingspan is a big UAV. And that translates into high cost that in turn limits how fast the Kremlin can acquire the type.
A single S-70 could cost up to $20 million, according to Bendett. Compare that the American Valkyrie with its 22-foot wingspan: It costs just $2 million. The U.S. Air Force all along has said that wingman drones should be “attritable” — that is, expendable in combat.
Okhotnik does not appear to be economically attritable.
“This is an expensive aircraft and it would take a while for the Russian MOD to scale up its production, and to get to the point where this drone can truly fly on its own in future combat,” Bendett said.
Source: Forbes