Russian stealth drone S-70 uses high-tech components of Western manufacture: Ukrainian experts present evidence

In early October 2024, the wreckage of an "unidentified aircraft" fell on houses in the small town of Konstantinovka in the Donetsk region of Ukraine, which is very close to the front line, which turned out to be a secret Russian stealth drone S-70 "Hunter" (Okhotnik).

Here's What We Know

Stealth drone S-70 "Okhotnik" is the latest Russian development and besides reconnaissance drops bombs on Ukrainian territories.

The device flies in tandem with a fifth-generation SU-57 fighter, is controlled remotely via radio communication, has a wingspan of up to 20 metres (65 feet), weighs up to 20 tonnes and carries, according to open sources, up to 8 tonnes of bombs.

The C-70 is a high-tech UAV, which, it would seem, in the face of the harshest sanctions and lack of its own microelectronics, the aggressor country cannot produce. But Ukrainian experts, having disassembled the drone, stated that Russia manages to circumvent sanctions and obtain the necessary components.

On the War&Sanctions website, the experts published a detailed list of foreign-made components that were used to manufacture the C-70. In particular, they found parts manufactured by Analog Devices, Texas Instruments and Xilinx-AMD (USA), Infineon Technologies (Germany), STMicroelectronics (Switzerland).

Unfortunately, the aggressor country masterfully circumvents the restrictions, buys components from third countries and creates a huge number of front companies for this purpose. Therefore, it is important not only to impose sanctions, but also to monitor their implementation by penalising companies that directly or indirectly trade with the aggressor.

Source: War&Sanctions