3 ms·

Incorrect, you shoot down something else afterwards.

• Arainach 5y ago
  That's generally not how these things work. Shooting down a plane that you feel invaded your territory is one thing; shooting down something else makes you the aggressor. This was well established with U-2 and SR-71 flights in the cold war.
  • Youden 5y ago
    Sending the U-2 or SR-71 is like sending spies. Something most countries do and so expect and tolerate of others. The SR-72 has strike capability. It's more like sending an assassin or rolling a tank into a foreign country. That's an act of war.
    • Arainach 5y ago
      Unless it actually strikes, no country is going to escalate an overflight to a different hot strike. Air powers regularly fly along the borders and intrude and have for the last 70 years. Overflights were deemed acts of war during the cold war as well - that's why the USSR tried to shoot down all of the U-2 planes they could (ultimately succeeding on Gary Powers' flight) and any other things they considered spy flights (such as the KAL-007 crisis). At no point did they escalate in other areas. War is hell, and countries go to great lengths to avoid it - even when they're angry.
      • throwaway210222 5y ago
        > no country is going to escalate an overflight The USA is not going to escalate if Chinese or Russian aircraft start flying over Washington or NYC with impunity? Don't be naïve.