In what is likely an attempt to impress with its military’s capabilities, Russia has debuted its first large drone, called “the hunter.”
Russia’s Defense Ministry says the unmanned stealth drone has a 3,100-mile range, according to Vice News. U.S. military experts are generally skeptical of Kremlin claims about the capabilities of its new technology.
The Defense Ministry released a YouTube video purportedly showing snippets of the drone’s successful 20-minute flight on Wednesday.
The weapon would be the first of its kind in the Kremlin’s military hardware.
Russia has rolled out supposedly landmark weapons before, only to be trashed by U.S. intelligence and military analysts later. In 2018, Moscow claimed it had built a nuclear-tipped warhead with “unlimited” range.
U.S. experts later disputed Russia’s characterization of the weapon and said the missile could, at most, travel 22 miles.
