4 ms·

Why though was it escorted for that long and not forced to land? It seems like it was escorted over hunderts of kilometers...

• serf 4y ago
  my guess would be that they maintained such a low flight speed that fighter escort was made impossible by the lower supported stall speed of the small craft. there were similar such shenanigans in the US during the 70s, it can be very difficult to intercept a slow bi-plane, for example. You can demonstrate a show of force by buzzing the aircraft, but an escort is nearly impossible.
  • wbl 4y ago
    Attack helicopter intercept?
    • snypher 4y ago
      Eg Apache has only a ~250 mile range, (Gripen and F-16 are 2,000+) so it may not be feasible to intercept with the helicopter.