Georgian UAV shot down by Russian Fighter
Posted by: delusional in Automotive, Aviation, News, PoliticsBBC is carrying a video which shows a Georgian UAV being shot down by what appears to be a Russian Fighter aircraft, probably a Mig 29.
The video shows the UAV on a reconnaissance mission which, according to an official, is over Georgian territory. The UAV is reportedly unarmed and looks like a low-speed, probably piston-engined type.
The Georgian UAV operator was apparently warned by Georgian ground-based radar that the UAV was about to be intercepted and commanded the UAV’s camera toward the oncoming aircraft. We see the intercepting aircraft lining-up on the rear of the UAV, rolling wings-level and then firing an air-to-air missile which hits the UAV terminating the feed. An English “Master Caution” message is then presented on screen by the UAV command software.
Video here:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/7359514.stm
The Georgia seem to be rather upset with the Russia about this.
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April 22nd, 2008 at 8:24 pm
There are several things that make me uneasy about this video. First, you notice that after the drone is hit by the missile, the image turns into white noise as if it were an analog feed. I highly doubt that they use analog tech on Hermes drones. A digital feed would just go blank, typically displaying the last frame.
Secondly, it is easy to replace the silhouette of one aircraft with that of another, especially if it is larger. Abkhaz officials, who broke the news of downing the UAV, correctly identified the Hermes drone and claimed to have it shot down using a Czech trainer aircraft (L39) of their own. The Georgian radar log (which may have been easily faked, too, by the way) shows that the interceptor aircraft took of from an Abkhaz airfield. If a MiG-29 had landed earlier on that airstrip, they would have made a big fuss of it a lot earlier.
I do not claim that the footage is fake or that the silhouette of L39 has been replaced by that of a MiG-29, but I do claim that it is both possible and cheap. If faking the evidence costs a lot less than the benefits from doing so, the evidence is inadmissible, in my opinion; It should be ignored.
Now, if the feed were analog, it would leave an interesting possibility: interception by Russian SIGINT. If the interceptor was indeed an L39, then they could produce footage with the silhouette of that aircraft. Now, replacing a larger silhouette with a smaller one is MUCH more difficult than the other way around. Wondering if such a footage exists…