Comments on: Georgian UAV shot down by Russian Fighter http://www.delusionofgrandeur.co.uk/2008/04/22/georgian-uav-shot-down-by-russian-fighter/ ours is not to reason why Fri, 25 Jul 2008 14:41:30 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6 By: SakkMatt http://www.delusionofgrandeur.co.uk/2008/04/22/georgian-uav-shot-down-by-russian-fighter/#comment-2009 SakkMatt Tue, 22 Apr 2008 20:24:33 +0000 http://www.delusionofgrandeur.co.uk/?p=395#comment-2009 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 I do not claim that the footage is fake or that the silhouette of L39 has been replaced by that of a MiG-29, but I do claim that it is both possible and cheap.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... 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…

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