The War in the Ukraine

tankphobia

tankphobia

Senior Member
Registered Member
It could be a simple matter that the flare/fuel dump got into air intake causing the UAV to crash, I'm sure the reaper operates at close to the minimum speed the flanker could go at without stalling, why would they deliberately hit the MQ-9... Russia has nothing to prove here.
 
B

Biscuits

Colonel
Registered Member
manqiangrexue said:
I don't know what exactly happened or how the Flanker managed to down another jet with a collision that did not also down his own. American media is often just plain wrong, but from what was said, I imagine the Russian pilot understood which part of his aircraft was strong enough to shatter a propeller without being shredded by it, and skillfully aimed that part into the MQ-9's propeller to down it without sacrificing his own aircraft. Certainly an incredibly skilled pilot if that is the case. If it was dumb luck and he accidentally made contact then had to get his hobbled fighter back to base, which survived despite taking serious damage, then it's incompetent.
Click to expand...
The Flanker pilot has a 30mm gun. He can use it to safely mission kill the MQ-9. Dropping flares on it is another possibility.
 
manqiangrexue

manqiangrexue

Brigadier
Biscuits said:
The Flanker pilot has a 30mm gun. He can use it to safely mission kill the MQ-9. Dropping flares on it is another possibility.
Click to expand...
I'm aware that a Flanker has multiple ways to mission kill a drone but downing it without using weapons shows skill and avoids a shoot-down escalation.
SolarWarden said:
Maybe they'll start taking off with this...
View attachment 109155
Click to expand...
Doesn't make a difference what it takes off with. If it's a shootout with a Flanker, it'll lose. If it's a maneuvering contest like this one, it'd do worse with payload than without.
SolarWarden said:
Drones have rights too ya know.
Click to expand...
So do weather balloons.
 
S

SolarWarden

Junior Member
Registered Member
manqiangrexue said:
So do weather balloons.
Click to expand...
Not when illegally crossing a nations airspace. Drone was in international waters/airspace

sheogorath said:
If anything, it will provide China and Russia access to the AIM-9X once the Reaper gets downed from beyond the range of the missile.
Click to expand...
Lol. You think the 9x is some advanced IR missile that Russia or China need to study? There's nothing advanced about the 9x that Russia or China don't already have.

plawolf said:
What does it count as if the Russians brought it down with a missile, but the missile was still attached to the Flanker?

Either way, chalk it down as another thing the Russians should have been doing since day 1.
Click to expand...
Agree tactically speaking. They should down every US drone and call the US bluff. Do something about it if you dare.
 
B

Biscuits

Colonel
Registered Member
manqiangrexue said:
I'm aware that a Flanker has multiple ways to mission kill a drone but downing it without using weapons shows skill and avoids a shoot-down escalation.

Doesn't make a difference what it takes off with. If it's a shootout with a Flanker, it'll lose. If it's a maneuvering contest like this one, it'd do worse with payload than without.

So do weather balloons.
Click to expand...
Or Russians are simply lying about downing it without using weapons. Basically anything is more likely than some Russian pilot maneuvering the "non essential" parts of his plane to ram and shear off the drone in a such way it goes uncontrolled.

Besides its not just weapons they can use, even dropping chaff/flares into its engine could achieve the same effect with very low risk.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top