S-71 Monokhrom

The S-71 Monokhrom is a Russian air-launched unmanned aerial vehicle that functions like a cruise missile. Sukhoi Design Bureau started work on this UAV type in 2019, basing its design on a cruise missile dropped from an Su-57 carrier aircraft using AKU-58A or BD3-USK-A booms.

Development accelerated in 2022, and flight testing began in 2023. In August 2023, the United Aircraft Corporation filed a patent for an air-launched UAV with a warhead, describing a vehicle that could operate as a loitering munition or cruise missile. The patent was granted in March 2024 as RU2816326C1, and flight tests finished that same year.

The production model, designated S-71M Monochrom, can operate autonomously within a designated area, searching for and identifying targets, and independently decide to attack. Media reports say it has been adapted for launch from the S-70 Okhotnik heavy drone.

A simplified variant, the S-71K Dyvan, has a radar cross-section of 0.007–0.01 m², a range of 200–350 km, and flies at low altitudes of 20–75 m over ground and 5–15 m over water. Its main role is attacking fixed-coordinate targets with a cluster warhead. The drone is built at the Tactical Missile Armament Plant.

Combat Use

First combat use occurred during the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Russian media reported that in January 2026, near the village of Khlopyaniki, S-71 drones destroyed a HIMARS launcher that had been attacking targets in Bryansk Oblast.

Design

The drone has a standard aircraft configuration designed to reduce radar signature. Its fuselage is hexagonal in cross-section with a V-tail. It uses a TRDD-50 turbojet engine or a modification, enabling sustained subsonic low-altitude flight, with an exhaust nozzle designed to lower thermal signature. Armament is a 100–150 kg high-explosive fragmentation warhead.

Guidance includes an inertial system and GLONASS satellite navigation. Wings fold and deploy after airdrop. The S-71M’s size allows four S-71Ks in the Su-57’s internal bay; the S-71K must be carried on under-wing mounts. The Su-57 can carry four S-71Ks.

Remains of a destroyed S-71M recovered by Ukrainian forces in mid-2026 showed it was controlled by an Nvidia Jetson Orin NX board produced in March 2025, the most powerful board found on a Russian weapon used in Ukraine so far, comparable to a GeForce RTX 3000 series graphics card.