RSK MiG has unveiled a full-scale mockup of a stealthy unmanned combat air vehicle demonstrator, called Skat (Skate), during the MAKS 2007 airshow in Moscow.
Shown to reporters in a MiG facility at the nearby Gromov flight-test centre, the tailless flying-wing Skat appears to be equivalent to Boeing's X-45A UCAV technology demonstrator while resembling the larger X-45C built for the cancelled J-UCAS programme but never flown.
Stealthy features of the engineering mockup, visible in a Russian TV report, include the single air intake with abifurcated inlet duct blocking line-of-sight to the engine and the underfuselage weapons bay door with signature serrated edges.
Itar-Tass says a technology demonstrator will be built and flown both manned and unmanned modes, and the bifurcated inlet may allow the installation of a cockpit, MiG-15-style.
Itar-Tass says the UCAV is intended for strikes against "air-defence systems, aircraft and ships" and could be armed with Kh-31A anti-ship and Kh-31P anti-radar missile as well as TV-guided missiles.
Source: FlightGlobal.com