So the US lost a spy drone yesterday and is blaming Russia.

According to the US Russia's jets dropped fuel on the drone then hit its propeller causing the crash. As a pilot I have to laugh at that explanation. Do the Russian fighter jets have fuel dump capacity? I honestly don't know but I do know that hitting the drone's propeller would take some expert kind of airmanship in order to down the drone without losing the contacting aircraft at the same time. Firing a missile at the drone would do that job much more effectively. However there is a third option. What would happen if the Russian fighters flew close to the drone? Has anyone ever heard of wake turbulence? It happens when airplanes move through the air. The heavier the aircraft and the faster the airplane moves the greater the turbulence. A large aircraft moving at speed will generate at least twice the vortex speed than an aircraft can counter. Should a fighter jet fly close to a drone it is likely the drone operator would lose control as the drone rolls or tumbles in the wake. Once it is out of control it must be extremely hard to regain control for someone hundreds of miles away flying a airplane on a computer screen. Pretty cool that one nation can take out another nation's prying eyes without firing a shot or even making contact. Oh and the fuel excuse? Yeah likely at was the exhaust coming from the jet engines.

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specman · 51-55, M

I think all the airships were in international airspace. They are supposed to put out the footage( or supposedly) . Purposely downing a country’s airship manned or unmanned is an act of war. That country would be attacking another country’s military airship.

But we’ll see. Personally I don’t think Beijing Biden has the balls to declare war . He’s already said multiple times he doesn’t want to cause www3. I don’t think he would fire a nuke if a nuke was fired at us.

hippyjoe1955 · 61-69, M

@specman The Russians never touched the drone which was flying without its transponder which is highly illegal. The American pilot lost control and the aircraft crashed without Russia doing any damage to the aircraft.

specman · 51-55, M

@hippyjoe1955 how do you know it was flying without the transponder?

hippyjoe1955 · 61-69, M

@specman It was widely reported as having its transponder OFF. Some in the American press were trying to blame it not being on to Russian jamming. The fact is that the US was in violation of international law with its drones flying in disputed airspace and heading to Russia without a transponder or flight plan. Russia did not touch the airplane but did show a huge vulnerability of the drone. it can not handle wake turbulence.

specman · 51-55, M

@hippyjoe1955 Russia more or less admitted that it downed it.
https://apnews.com/article/9f4b3e8fdd719c0fa91a0683228b9e51

hippyjoe1955 · 61-69, M

@specman Russia never fired a shot at it nor did it otherwise impact with it. Wake turbulence is a real threat to aircraft but it is up to the following pilot to avoid it. The US should not have had its transponder free drone heading to Russian airspace. The yanks are completely to blame for this. Russia did nothing wrong.

specman · 51-55, M

@hippyjoe1955 it was in international waters. I never said Russia shot it. From the article Russia just about admitted to it.

hippyjoe1955 · 61-69, M

@specman It was up to the yanky pilot to keep control of his own aircraft. the aircraft in the front has the right of way. The yanky pilot didn't take corrective action and as a result he crashed his aircraft. That had nothing to do with Russia.