Eggs
Not to hijack the thread but...... there is a report today that the Russians are reinforcing their navy in the Black Sea?
https://www.jpost.com/international/article-782202
I thought Turkey closed access to Russian war vessels.
That plane looks like a dump. Have they no pride?
(((PING!)))
The Russia-Ukraine war is proving to be very illuminating for how a war between two technological powers is fought.
Most conflicts since WWII have been lower tech, or high tech vs. low tech, so haven’t illustrated how modern military tech works against each other. Even the Iraq wars were modern vs. Soviet era, which of course showed what would have happened had a conventional World War III happened in Europe.
Historically, this war will likely be labeled “The First Drone War”, both in the air an on the water. So innovation in the future will also include land drone warfare and submarine drone warfare.
Personally, I am having a hard time wrapping my head around what weapon was used if it was not friendly fire, which I do not believe it was.
The distance from Ukrainian controlled territory to the location where the planes were believed to be is just at or outside of the range of a Patriot MIM-104D/E PAC-2 which has a published range of 160 km (86 nmi; 99 mi).
Despite this, Patriot seems to be the most popular working theory I have observed from others.
https://twitter.com/UKikaski/status/1746868000345518413
The Patriot had to be forward deployed...placing it at risk of attack by ZALA Lancet drone, rockets, or artillery.
Chances are the actual max ranges of the Patriot missiles are classified and much greater than the numbers in wiki.
The Patriot launch was outside Rmax-2. If the A-50 observed the Patriot launch, the pilot could have evaded the missile by turning to a heading of 110.
We will never know the full story.
HARD TO RECOVER ANYTHING OVER WATER
WIKI
The Beriev A-50 (NATO reporting name: Mainstay) is a Soviet airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) aircraft based on the Ilyushin Il-76 transport. Developed to replace the Tupolev Tu-126 “Moss”, the A-50 first flew in 1978. Its existence was revealed to the Western Bloc in 1978 by Adolf Tolkachev. It entered service in 1985, with about 40 produced by 1992.
Primary users Russian Aerospace Forces
Indian Air Force
Produced 1978–1992
Number built ~40 (8 active)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beriev_A-50
Reports: "Both planes landed safely"
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Luckily, Putin was onboard one of those aircraft and took over the controls !
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