4 ms·

Ukraine uses (among other things) fixed-wing drones with similar characteristics to civilian aircraft. Some of them are *actual* civilian aircraft, retrofitted

• colejohnson66 2y ago
  Unmanned kamikazes?
  • jandrese 2y ago
    They are just DIY cruise missiles really.
• notahacker 2y ago
  None of them remotely resemble an E190 though, which is about 50x the size of a cruise missile, communicates effectively with air traffic control and broadcasts ADS-B signals telling you what it is (at least when you're not jamming it...)
  • joha4270 2y ago
    Radar doesn't exactly tell you the size of of a contact. Sure, you can measure the power of the return signal, correct for distance and get something that loosely correlates with size. But it correlates much more strongly with other things. You're also making the assumption here that it was a modern Russian system. This wasn't exactly close to the current fighting, its entirely possible this radar was manufactured in the Soviet Union. I don't think those receive a lot (or any) civilian broadcasts.
    • justsomehnguy 2y ago
      > You're also making the assumption here that it was a modern Russian system People do like to provide their very important opinion completely oblivious what Grozny is farther away from eg Crimea than Kiev.
    • cozzyd 2y ago
      Since Russia reduced Grozny to rubble relatively recently, it's probably not that old.
      • joha4270 2y ago
        Most A2A systems has wheels (or floats) and can thus easily be relocated. While it probably had good stuff once, I think all the high end equipment once located here has moved closer to Ukraine by now. What's left is probably the worst (human or technological) that's left.
• throw0101d 2y ago
  > Ukraine uses (among other things) fixed-wing drones with similar characteristics to civilian aircraft. Including taking off from commercial airports on publicly available schedules, on predetermined airways/corridors, and broadcasting 1080 MHZ ADS-B data?
• red-iron-pine 2y ago
  > Some of them are actual civilian aircraft, retrofitted into unmanned suicide drones literally small prop planes with guidance systems and instead of ~4 passengers it's lots of explosives. commonly used against Russian oil depots, etc. small radar signature, and a lot of ambiguity with civilian aircraft.
  • Retric 2y ago
    Confusion with civilian prop aircraft, not commercial jet airliners flying at vastly higher altitude and speeds.
    • icegreentea2 2y ago
      An E190 on approach (remember, this airplane was trying to land at Grozny) has an approach speed between 125-145 knots (depending on load). A Cessna 172 for example has a cruise speed of ~120 knots and can cruise up to 10k feet. A typical instrument landing glide path is 3 degrees - that intercepts 10k feet at ~60km out. The likelihood of confusing a regional jet with a small prop plane (purely based on speed/heading/altitude) is way higher during landing.
      • Retric 2y ago
        While it crashed near an airport it doesn’t seem like the aircraft was targeted at low altitude and low speeds.
    • sandmn 2y ago
      This aircraft was trying to land so it likely had much lower altitude and speed than usual.
      • Retric 2y ago
        It doesn’t appear that the aircraft was attacked on final approach. Instead flying much higher and faster than prop drones.