The Sukhoi S-70 Okhotnik-B (Russian: Сухой С-70 "Охотник"; English: Hunter) is a Russian prototype stealth combat drone developed by Sukhoi and Russian Aircraft Corporation "MiG" currently development as a sixth generation aircraft. In-game, it is manually piloted like any other aircraft, as opposed to being a remote-control drone.
Battlefield 2042[]
— In-game description
The XFAD-4 Draugr is a vehicle featured in Battlefield 2042, introduced in Turning Point season. It is available as part of Update 7.2 (Season 7) and can be unlocked by earning 40 ribbons during Death from Above event and by completing assignments afterwards.
The Draugr has a unique set of upgrades and abilities that make it stand out from other air vehicles. It functions most similiarly to the Attack Aircraft of older titles such as Battlefield 4, primarily focused on taking out large clusters of infantry, and dealing massive damage to armored vehicles.
It has average mobility for a fixed-wing aircraft, though it is slightly slower than other Fighter Aircraft. While possessing a tight turning radius, skilled F-35E Panther or Su-57 Felon pilots will be able to narrowly outmanuever the Draugr. Coupled with the lack of dedicated anti-aircraft missiles, the Draugr is best used as a support aircraft, avoiding direct confrontation with other aircraft. The Draugr has a completely unique HUD available to it, being a thermal view that highlights enemy soldiers and vehicles in bright red. This thermal targeting is always on and cannot be disabled or switched to daytime optics.
The Draugr's main weapons are a selection of three different rotary cannons hidden in the aircraft's fuselage. The default cannon is 20mm Dual Cannons HE. These cannons possess great splash damage capabilties, but the shells have slow velocity, making them a poor choice for attacking other aircraft. The cannons, while fast-firing, deal little damage to heavy armor, and thus are best suited for attacking groups of foot soldiers.
The second unlocked cannon is 20mm Dual Cannons AP. These have the opposite effect of the HE cannons, doing little damage to infantry, but shredding heavy armor with powerful, quick bursts.
The last unlocked primary weapon is Anti-Vehicle Rocket Pods. Compared to the similarly-named anti-vehicle rockets featured on Attack Helicopters, these rockets deal less overall damage, both to infantry and armor, making them a questionable choice. However, they fire in two volleys at a time, compared to one rocket alternating from each pod on normal helicopters.
The Draugr's standout feature is its bombing capability, having an array of powerful explosives that can be dropped from very high altitudes onto unsuspecting infantry and vehicles alike.
The first bomb is the NNEMP Bomb. When dropped onto enemy vehicles, it unleashes a massive EMP blast in a large radius, disabling all vehicles caught in the blast, similiar to other EMP effects found in the game. It also deals moderate damage to the vehicle itself, but it is not reliable for killing foot soldiers. Notably, the NNEMP's description states that the bomb can ignore Cyberwarfare Protection Systems.
The second weapon is an Air-to-Ground Missile. It possesses similiar performance to other ATGM missiles, dealing heavy damage with accurate laser guidance. However, only one can be fired at a time, limiting its usefulness.
The third weapon is the MK77 Kerosene Bomb, primarily targeted at dealing with foot soldiers. The bomb is dumb-fired, dealing an incredible amount of splash damage in a large radius, easily killing soldiers at full health. However, it does very little damage to heavy armor, making it a poor choice for attacking anything other than soldiers clustered around objectives.
The last weapon in the secondary slot is the MK84 JDAM Bomb. Compared to previous installments of dumb-fire anti-vehicle bombs, the JDAM functions like a real-life JDAM-kit equipped bomb, guiding itself towards enemy vehicles without any use of laser guidance or manual locking. When selected, enemy vehicles in the player's field of view will have large red diamonds appearing over them. Lining up the crosshairs, a dropped JDAM will quickly steer itself directly onto target. This bomb is extremely powerful and will deal upwards of 80 damage to the EBAA Wildcat, and up to 60 damage to Main Battle Tanks. Coupled with a quick burst of the 20mm Dual Cannons AP, the JDAM will easily obliterate enemy vehicles from distances that they cannot retaliate.
Equipment slot 1 features two new, unique upgrades, and one returning one. The first upgrade is Ground Radar Sensor. When activated, all enemy vehicles on the map, regardless of distance to target, are automatically pinged for the pilot, giving them vital information on what vehicles to attack first, and where they are. The second upgrade is the Cyberwarfare Protection System, functionally identical to all other instances of this upgrade on other vehicles. The last upgrade is the CIX Valravn, a futuristic active camouflage cloaking device. When used, the Draugr is rendered partially invisible. Light will reflect around the aircraft, but it is not totally invisible, and a keen eye will be able to see it coming depending on the angle light hits it from. Functionally, this completely disables all spotting, breaks any ongoing spotting, and makes the aircraft's icon vanish off the minimap, but this will not deflect lock-ons from missiles or the SOFLAM. Additionally, firing any weapons will automatically disable the cloaking, making the usefulness of the CIX Valravn questionable.
Equipment slot 2 features two upgrades. The first upgrade is the typical Repair System featured on all other vehicles. The second is the DRFM Jammer. It functions similiarly to the ECM Jammer featured in previous titles. When activated, it will break any locks coming from vehicles. It is very important to note that the DRFM Jammer does not work on MANPADS (infantry-portable missile launchers, such as the FXM-33 AA Missile). It is also important to note that the Jammer must be activated before the missile is fired, not after, or else the missile will ignore the Jammer and hit the Draugr. This is the biggest weakness by far, and thus it is very important that the pilot attempts to avoid getting too close to the ground whenever possible, as they will potentially become an easy target for soldiers on the ground carrying MANPADS.
Overall, the XFAD-4 Draugr is a unique, powerful asset in the right hands. Coupled with a wide array of powerful bombs, rockets and guns, the Draugr can make short work of infantry and ground vehicles alike. However, the functional lack of countermeasures and anti-air weaponry limits its usefulness in certain situations, forcing the Draugr into the role of a support aircraft, where it helps deal damage from the sidelines, avoiding direct confrontation with other vehicles.
Gallery[]
Skins[]
Factory Default |
Carbon Series XFAD-4 Draugr Mastery 1 (T5) | ||
Tier 1 XFAD-4 Draugr Mastery 40 (T1) |
Rise From Ashes 500 BFC (Vehicle Skin) 1,750 BFC (Sunbreakers Bundle) | ||
Sky Serpent 500 BFC (Vehicle Skin) 1,750 BFC (Bushido Undying Bundle) |
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Trivia[]
- Draugr is an undead creature from the Scandinavian literature and folktales.
- Currently, the Draugr's health is potentially affected by a glitch. It will be disabled from taking even the small amount of damage, compared to all other vehicles, that need a significant portion of their health to disable. It is currently unknown if this is a bug or a deliberate, intended feature of the Draugr.
- The Draugr is affected by the same third person camera glitch as Casper's OV-P Recon Drone and Lis' G-84 TGM.