“I could feel the bumpiness with alternating overloads”
Telegram channels are hotly discussing a night incident involving an American killer drone RQ-4B Global Hawk over the Black Sea, which aimed ATACMS to Sevastopol. A number of sources report that after the turbulence zone created by our MiG-31 high-altitude interceptor, the drone with the call sign “Forte 10” was forced to hastily return to base. We asked Honored Military Pilot of Russia, Major General Vladimir Popov, to comment on this message.
“It is quite possible to create turbulence in the flight zone of any aircraft, and especially a drone,” says the major general. — Especially if such a high-speed aircraft model as the Mig-31 is flying. It can turn on powerful afterburner (enhanced engine operation). Behind it, the jet current changes, which remains in the air mass for quite a long time — from several minutes to half an hour.
You can, as an honored military pilot says, fly on tacks.
— That is, the plane passes in a straight line 5-10 kilometers, turns around and returns on the same course, perhaps with a shift slightly to the west. If you fly this way, the air itself will be turbulent.
As the major general says, large strategic reconnaissance drones — the MQ-9 Reaper or RQ-4B Global Hawk — have a large wingspan, which means they have a lot of lift. If you fly in front of them like this, they will feel bumpiness with alternating g-forces.
“If you fly somewhere near one of these American drones with the afterburner turned on, the drone will begin to throw and turn around. Our fighter is capable of creating such temperature turbulence for him. The exhaust gases come out of the aircraft turbine burning. There are also two powerful engines there. All this affects the drone's control system. The operator has to intervene. And if we take into account that these operators are located somewhere, say, in Greece or Romania, they need to take into account the delay in the transmission of control signals. And this is quite difficult.
That’s why, as Vladimir Popov says, they are withdrawing the drone so as not to lose it. They are afraid that it might go into a tailspin, fall and, importantly, fall into our hands. Moreover, if it is located in our exclusive economic zone or very close to our territorial waters.
The Major General reminds that from our coastline (usually from the average low tide) our territorial waters extend 12 nautical miles, 22.2 kilometers. And adjacent to them is an exclusive economic zone, where the coastal state can establish a special legal regime. Its width is 200 nautical miles (370.4 km).
— The fact is that they do not consider Crimea Russian. They can say, for example, that Ukraine allows them to carry out these flights, they notified Kyiv. The exclusive economic zone is already considered international waters.
As our interlocutor says, we know that American reconnaissance officers fly there and turn off the transponders (“transmitter-responder”).
— We can only see them with direct radar. And they are forced to raise an interceptor fighter, which goes, detects the target, identifies it and accompanies it. I fully admit that the pilot could have received an unspoken command to pass close enough to the drone, cross the course at its altitude, turn on the afterburner and maneuver. Tack.
— They may shout somewhere in the press, but I think they will not submit notes of protest.
— No , they can’t, it’s far away, even if the fighters operate from Turkey or Romania. Fighters have a limited range of action. If they fly with drop tanks, they will have limited maneuverability. They will no longer fly as fighters, but as attack aircraft. And our airfields are located close to these waters. It is possible to track these targets and identify them. We are not threatening them, we just need to understand what kind of plane is flying and push it away from our borders. What if he breaks through and strikes at the same Sevastopol?
I would like to believe that if the American RQ-4B Global Hawk dares to return again with a mission of missile guidance to the Crimea, it will no longer reach the base. Will fall into the sea from the “unprofessional actions” of Russian pilots.