MOSCOW, May 18. /TASS/. The serial production of the Okhotnik (Hunter) heavy strike drone will begin in 2023, Head of the state tech corporation Rostec Sergey Chemezov said at a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday.

"The first flying prototype was rolled out in 2021 and we will begin serial-producing and delivering it to the Defense Ministry in 2023," Chemezov said.

As its specific feature, the Okhotnik features a flat nozzle thruster that makes it less visible for radars, the Rostec chief stressed.

"Also, a new ground control post is being created for the drone," he said.

The S-70 Okhotnik drone developed by the Sukhoi Design Bureau features stealth technology and the flying wing design (it lacks a tail), which diminishes its radar signature. According to the data of open sources, the drone has a take-off weight of 20 tonnes and can accelerate to roughly 1,000 km/h.

The Okhotnik heavy attack drone performed its debut flight on August 3, 2019. The flight lasted over 20 minutes under an operator’s control. On September 27, 2019, the Okhotnik performed a flight together with a Su-57 fifth-generation fighter jet. The drone maneuvered in the air in automated mode at an altitude of around 1,600 meters and its flight lasted over 30 minutes.