Re: [GZG] [Real World] Russian Mig 29 shoots down Georgian UAV

[Sylvester Wrzesinski <xveers@xxxxxxxxx>]

Adrian1 wrote:

>Two questions.
>
>Whose airspace was it?  If it wasn't Georgian they don't have any say.
>  
>
Assuming enough time and aireal recon, one could probably ID the section 
of coast that is in the footage to some degree of certanty. There's only 
a small portion of coast it could be, realistically.

>Is it standard procedure for jet fighters to attack airborne targets 
>from the front?
>  
>
Okay, without knowing the exact model of UAV, just the fact it was 
"purchased from Israel" and coupling that with this link :
http://www.israeli-weapons.com/weapons/aircraft/uav/hermes_450/Hermes_450.html
Which has multiple pictures of a UAV that seems to have had some export 
success, I believe that the fighter aircraft approached low and to the 
left of the UAV, probably 7-8 o'clock or so (estimated from apparent 
position of cams on the UAV and the shot of the landing wheel in said 
footage, including it's support strut). So I don't think the fighter was 
making an attack from the rear. From his maneuvering, he probably came 
up from the rear and then hooked "left" (from the orientation of the 
UAV's nose) before swinging right into an attack position. Granted he 
did approach quite closely, but it is also possible he wanted to eyeball 
the target and confirm it was a UAV. (assumption is that it had the same 
radar signal as a small civillian plane. Last thing you want to do is be 
responsable for that kinda thing...)

That beign said, it seemed damn ballsy to do it. The missile might be a 
bit of overkill, but assuming that they wanted it down quick and for 
sure, it's the best way to do it.

>Is it possible the owners of the airspace had Russian aircraft?  They do 
>seem to pop up everywhere.
>  
>
That's another good question. They're rather decent sellers IIRC to 
anyone with the cash who isn't going to be pointing them right back at 
them... However, it is possible that they might be able to amplify the 
picture and perhaps pull some more identifiers on the aircraft. 
Additionally, they might be able to do some photo analysis to identify 
the specific aircraft. Granted they do look similar (varions migs, F-16) 
I imagine the actual geometry is somewhat different. Given the 
relatively small amount of distance from cockpit to tail rudders, they 
could work out some general measurements and compare them to known 
geometry of the fighters in question. If the geometry dosen't match that 
of the F-16, but comes very close to the MiG-29, well....



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