MOSCOW. Jan 10 (Interfax) - Russian naval aviation will be enhanced with Okhotnik and Inokhodets attack drones, Russian Navy Commander Nikolai Yevmenov said.
"The development of unmanned aerial vehicles is a priority. The delivery of modern UAVs, such as Inokhodets and Okhotnik, is planned," Yevmenov said in an interview with the Krasnaya Zvezda newspaper of the Russian Defense Ministry.
According to official reports, Sukhoi, a part of Rostec's United Aircraft Corporation (UAC), has been working on Russia's first heavy long-endurance attack drone since 2011. The original plan was to begin serial deliveries of Okhotnik drones in 2025, yet UAC head Yury Slyusar said in August 2020 that the drone's development had been boosted on the orders from the Russian Defense Ministry so that the deliveries could start in 2024.
Okhotnik's officially reported takeoff mass is 20 tonnes. Russian President Vladimir Putin said earlier that Okhotnik has a payload of six tonnes, a flight range of about 6,000 kilometers and a ceiling of 18 kilometers.
According to official data, the Inokhodets reconnaissance and attack drone, also known as Orion, a product of the Kronstadt company, is the first Russian drone of the Medium Altitude Long Endurance (MALE) class. The drone has a takeoff mass of 1,150 kilograms, 24-hour endurance, cruise speed of 200 kilometers per hour, a ceiling of 7,500 meters and a payload of 200 kilograms. The drone can deliver glide bombs and guided missiles.