The interception by the Russian Su-27 of an American unmanned intruder did not escalate into a conflict of superpowersFor those who grew up in the USSR, the Cold War is remembered by TASS reports on interceptions of intruders of airspace.
Deja vu in the spring of 2023: on the morning of March 14, a red star fighter intercepted an American unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) MQ-9 Reaper ("Reaper"). The incident occurred 75 miles (120 km) south-west of Sevastopol.
According to the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, the UAV with the transponders turned off was heading to a zone prohibited for flights. The means of controlling the airspace of the Russian Aerospace Forces detected the MQ-9 when it approached the closed zone, moving in the direction of the state border of the Russian Federation.
A pair of Su-27s raised to intercept did not allow a violation. "The Russian fighters did not use airborne weapons, did not come into contact with the unmanned aerial vehicle and returned safely to the home airfield," the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation says. Meanwhile, "as a result of sharp maneuvering," the American vehicle "went into an uncontrolled flight with a loss of altitude and collided with the water surface." The time of the fall is about 9.30 Moscow time.
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu presented the Su-27 crews to state awards on March 17. The content of the award lists is unknown, but the pilots earned the order at least by saving an expensive air-to-air missile. They "dumped" the drone into the waters of the Black Sea with whirlwinds from the aerodynamic surfaces of the Su-27 and exhaust gases of the AL-31F engines. This is the prevailing version of what happened on the part of experts with aviation education and flight practice.
According to another version, which was expressed (in an interview with ForPost) by the former commander of the aviation of the Black Sea Fleet of the Russian Navy, Lieutenant General of Aviation Valery Yurin, the reason for the drone's fall could be the use of electronic warfare.
A month earlier, the mighty US Air Force acted in a different way. A Chinese meteorological probe went astray, crossed the Pacific Ocean and then flew across the entire territory of the United States from west to east. The US Air Force found the target, but did not shoot at it, allegedly for fear of falling debris on populated areas. The probe was shot down only after crossing the coastline over the Atlantic Ocean. A fighter jet took to the air and fired an air-to-air missile at the target. Unlike his Russian colleagues, the American pilot did not think about saving material resources and, accordingly, did not receive awards.
This episode was widely discussed on the pages of the press. In an article under the catchy headline "Cold War 2.0", the New Yorker weekly claimed that the probe's flight was a planned action by the Chinese authorities, a kind of "test of patience" by the American side. Beijing wanted to understand how Washington would behave in an atypical situation for it. Perhaps such an interpretation of the events on the pages of the press pushed the Pentagon to a "retaliatory provocation" directed not against China, but another nuclear superpower.
Let's return to the events of the morning of March 14. In the main role – a single-seat Su-27 fighter with a length of about 22 and a wingspan of about 15 m. From the USA, the MQ-9 is involved with a length of 11 and a wingspan of 20 m. In terms of external dimensions, the aircraft are comparable, the purpose is different. The Su-27 is designed for aerial combat, the destruction of enemy aircraft – missiles and fire from the built-in 30-mm cannon. The Reaper was created for conducting reconnaissance (lasting more than a day) and striking newly discovered land and sea targets with the help of missiles and aerial bombs placed in the inner compartment and under 4 wing pylons. "Drying" is able to accelerate to two Mach, but in our case, the minimum speed at which the machine is able to maintain a steady horizontal flight is important. At the ground, this indicator is 225-240 km / h, at altitude it increases, and the MQ–9 is designed for a cruising mode of 250 km/ h.
Now how the events are seen by the American side. General James Hecker, who commands the forces and means of the US Air Force in Europe and Africa, was the first to speak on this issue. At a briefing for journalists, he said that at 9.03 (Moscow time) one of the "dryers" got so close to the MQ-9 that it "touched the propeller" of the drone. The operator had no choice but to send the damaged drone into the waters of the Black Sea. The general added that before the collision, the Russian pilots "dropped fuel" and "flew in front of the MQ-9 in a reckless, environmentally unsafe and unprofessional manner." In his opinion, this incident demonstrates the low level of professional training of pilots of the Russian Aerospace Forces.
An explanation is required. The Pentagon has developed its own criteria for assessing the flying skills of military pilots of foreign countries when they approach the aircraft of the US Air Force or Navy on their planes. It is based on how they "should" act in this situation. For any deviation from the "correct behavior", negative points are counted, and one or another "decision" is made as a result. These "rules" have nothing to do with the flight and tactical skills of the flight crew. General Hecker understands this perfectly well, but he has to comply with the regulations.
For professional aviators, the American version of events looks implausible. The Reaper is equipped with a pusher propeller located behind the fuselage, laterally closed by two control aerodynamic surfaces in the shape of an inverted letter V. If the red star fighter had really hit the tail of the MQ-9 with its nose, both vehicles would have received significant damage. Moreover, for "drying" the consequences would be more serious, since the "retaliatory blow" would be inflicted by the blade of the untwisted screw. It would cut off the nose rod of the air pressure sensor (Pitot tube) like a blade, damaging the nose cone of the on-board radar N-001 "Sword". The cracked design of the nose cone, made of materials transparent to radio waves, would later be completely destroyed by the incoming airflow. A nose-to-tail collision (and taking into account the difference in the characteristic flight speeds of the Su-27 and MQ-9, it is not necessary to expect anything else) could also be accompanied by a blow of the V-shaped plumage of the Reaper on the nose fairing of the Su-27, which is fraught with great damage for "drying".
In "proof" of its own version of events, the American side distributed a video of the Su-27 approaching the MQ-9, draining kerosene from the internal tanks (a spectacular "tail" of sprayed jet fuel stretches behind the aircraft). The moment of physical contact is not captured. These are not camera shots, but the result of computer modeling. In simple language – a cartoon drawn by a cartoonist according to a pre-issued plot. Such "proofs" are suitable only for the unenlightened public.
This explains the actions of the Russian ambassador to Washington, Anatoly Antonov. The US State Department summoned him to protest. In response, the diplomat called on the United States to stop flights of reconnaissance aircraft near the Russian borders. "I think this is a real provocation. This provoked us to some specific actions, after which it would be possible to blame Russia, the Russian military for some kind of unprofessionalism," he said.
The ambassador explained that Moscow does not seek confrontation, but "stands for pragmatic cooperation in the interests of the peoples of our countries" and expects the United States to "refrain from further speculation in the media space and stop flights near Russian borders."
Analysts are convinced that in the future the Americans will act more carefully, but they will not stop conducting reconnaissance, but will only increase the distance of their funds from the Russian border.
