In addition to the “bumpiness”, our interceptor can test the drone with “tacks”
A demonstrative intimidating action for the American Global Hawk drone in the sky over the Black Sea was carried out by our pilots. A former fighter pilot and admin of the popular aviation channel “Fighterbomber” spoke about this. According to him, our supersonic high-altitude all-weather long-range fighter-interceptor MiG-31 took part in the action.
The news has not been officially confirmed by either party, and the fighter pilot promises to provide details later. Meanwhile, MK talked with the Honored Military Pilot of Russia, Major General in the Reserve Vladimir Popov, who told what this intimidation action could look like.
Let me remind you that late yesterday evening, an aviation resource run by a former fighter pilot gave out a sensation, hinting that our aces had begun work to displace enemy reconnaissance drones over the Black Sea.
The Americans, fearing the loss of their reconnaissance drone due to “increased turbulence,” took it away from the danger zone. A little later, the channel explained in more detail that we were talking about the very expensive American Global Hawk drone, and our MiG-31 fighter took part in the intimidation action.
The news caused heated discussion. Many noted that there were no Global Hawks in the Black Sea the day before. At the same time, others objected that NATO reconnaissance activity in the Black Sea is 24/7. And if a plane is not visible on the Flightradar air traffic tracking service, this does not mean that it is not there.
“An Internet program is entertainment for bloggers. And the serious guys come to us to “shine the light”. Plus, usually a missile strike is accompanied by the passage of their satellites over the Crimea,” wrote one of the channels.
According to the Honored Military Pilot of the Russian Federation Vladimir Popov, it is possible to organize flights of our high-altitude aircraft to create a zone of turbulence around an enemy aircraft.
“In this case, our aircraft can create a wake from jet engines, which is preserved at high altitudes, and then smoothly descends under the gravity of the air masses,” says the general. — This may affect flights of low-speed jet or turboprop aircraft. Especially drones.
But for the Global Hawk these are not such critical conditions, because it is massive in itself, and can develop high speed. In addition, it is resistant to such aerodynamic conditions as, for example, «turbulence». It can even pass through a «pipe» — a layer of air masses caused by jet streams.
If it stays in the jet stream for a long time, it will have to change flight level. But I cannot guarantee that something happened to the drone after our MiG-31 flew there. Although it is theoretically possible.
At the same time, the expert does not rule out that if our plane flew close to the drone, then the disturbance of the air masses caused by it could affect the work of the “American.” Vladimir Popov also recalled that reconnaissance drones, as a rule, fly at an altitude of 12-18 kilometers. They rise to a maximum height of 18-20 kilometers extremely rarely.
— They need quite a lot of time to gain this altitude, the engine power will not be enough, although their wing is like that of an airliner — the span is huge, and the lift can be realized due to vertical air flows, which can additionally lift it. But to raise it to such an altitude, say, over the sea is problematic. Because over the sea the weather conditions are short-lived — one flow raises the device, another can immediately begin to descend. You need to know the weather map well, the features of the area. The Americans, I think, do not have such an opportunity. They are provided with such control of weather data over the Turkish zone, but they do not have data on our zone.
As for our high-altitude interceptor MiG-31, according to Vladimir Popov, it can easily rise to an altitude of 20 kilometers and higher.
“It flies at an altitude of 20 kilometers, there are record flights of more than 20 kilometers,” he says. — And so, the standard for him is from 12 to 20 kilometers, where he can work with weapons, carry out patrols, “flex his muscles,” including creating conditions for a turbulent flow by tacks — walking in a back-and-forth motion. For example, the plane flew 2-3 kilometers forward, then turned around and parallelly went back on the same course. He turned around again, and then lowered his course and tacked again. And this flow will then slowly decrease and cover some area. But this is an expensive way to fly planes. Theoretically, such a possibility exists. But in economic terms, there is no benefit.
A military pilot also shared his experience of getting into a so-called wake:
— I flew at high altitudes in group flights and got into a wake — in trail from the aircraft in front. Yes, large fluctuations occur, the lifting force changes sharply, and “bumpiness” occurs when you get caught in the wake of an airplane, especially a large one.
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