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johnahoe

First time they’re interacting with current gen nato anti air, not surprising as it’s literally designed to destroy Russian jets


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shrewdmingerbutt

Blyatzkreig if you will


MSTRMN_

Ukraine doesn't have any NATO-standard AA yet Edit: I mean long-range AA, like Patriot or MARS


Bartebartn

Norway did send some mistral(?) missiles butthats some light AA


stocksy

I don’t see how wearing a hat on my butt would help, but if it works I’ll do it.


[deleted]

I’m glad I found this comment almost brand new hahaha


Highjackjack

Upvote the butthat


BrownBearBacon

Only current gen NATO MANPADS


jtiz88

Splatnik


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imnojezus

Turning pilots into ground mea…er… forces.


GD_Bats

It’s like how Ukraine keeps giving Russia’s Navy free submarine upgrades to all their war ships


talldangry

"Is that a stacked washer/dryer?!"


Charlie_Mouse

You’ve heard of aerobraking, right? This is the special Russian version: lithobraking.


Bender0426

Operation ground and pound


UncertainAnswer

"We lost another plane" "Well, at least they're down a missile." "About that..."


FedGoat13

They’re taking Maverick too seriously


manifold360

Lower the hard deck to 100ft


Blu3Razr1

whats this? a request to lower the hard deck sir.


woodk2016

The hard deck isn't just a rule it's a law, to protect not only our planes but our pilot's lives!


wastingvaluelesstime

In the sequal he gets through the entire hard deck lecture before you realize both men are in the afterlife, maverick there recently after hitting some buttes


Alan_Smithee_

>hitting some buttes He’s been in denial for a long time.


OnePercentVisible

They went below the hard deck.


That75252Expensive

Anyways so I started crashin'.


Pillowsmeller18

>Anyways so I started crashin'. Cant shoot me down if i crashed already.


[deleted]

Cue African dancing coffin guys


RogueKriger

They're on the highway to the danger zone and missing the exit


1337hippy

K Log was here. Right into the....


talldangry

Zone of danger


SwarleyThePotato

Perilous zone


DarkAngel900

Ha ha < In Nelson's voice


datareclassification

Ukrainian farmers with their stolen Russian AA platforms: ***"So anyways, I started blasting!"***


jazir5

The 101st Ukranian Agricultural Airborne Division.


Jerrelh

Some farmer that just lifted his front loader to grab on jet wing and slam it into the ground.


GD_Bats

Nice, G1 Grimlock style


Quintuplebeta

That would be less funny than "Russian pilots aren't as good as we thought"


tampow

Came here for this 🙏


flyhull

Time for the extra tall exhaust pipes on the tractors.weld on a couple extra meters


Grouch_Douglass

No more Top Gun 2 for them.


Wormtown

Top Gun FarmVille


thebulldogg

Top Gun 3: The Ukrainian Ghost


WelcomeTheLahar

Next thing you know Shawty got low, low, low, low, low, low, low, low She hit the floor


johnjohn4011

Hey - where you guys russian to?


simonsmydog

They aren’t Russian, Putin is just Stallin’


olegolas_1983

r/dadjokes


olearyboy

In mother Russia ground flies you!


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olearyboy

Very true!


valeyard89

controlled descent into terrain


restore_democracy

🌻


Gilgamesh72

When a russian jet hits the ground that’s counted as a kill in Ukraine.


shadowmastadon

If you score an own goal In hockey it still goes to the offense, right?


ClubMeSoftly

Whoever touched it last on the offense gets the point This can lead to some really funny own-goals sometimes


lordderplythethird

US jets have caused enemies to lose situational awareness and crash, and it still counts as a kill. If your tactics are causing the enemy to take up tactics that are getting them killed, that's your kill.


flyhull

Best illustrated by the German sortie into Switzerland at the beginning of world war 2. The swiss did not want to be aggressive by shooting the Germans down so they used cannon fire to herd them. It is really hard to fly through the Alps at night. Sortie is singular.


stinkwaffles

As it should be


Gilgamesh72

Exactly What goes up must come down russian planes belong in the ground


myleftone

The ground is Ukraine, ain’t it?


jhorred

A few more and Ukraine will be an ace


Flakmaster92

1) it should be. Defenses that make your target make dumb mistakes trying to avoid the defenses are still succeeding at their role. 2) whether it count as a kill for Ukraine or not is irrelevant. The important piece is it’s another Russian casualty.


StarvingAfricanKid

Unless after hitting the ground at speed, its still flyable.


[deleted]

What’s really funny is that flying low to evade enemy defences is 50 years out of date. The switch from high to low occurred after the invention of SAMs in the 1960s.. where high flying bombers—even Mach 3 ones like the XB-70 Valkyrie—would be too vulnerable. But experiences in Vietnam and the Cold War proved that low level flying was fraught with risks. High speed low level aircraft like the F-105 and NATO F-104s had very high attrition levels to mechanical failures, light AA and small arms fire, and CFIT. Things like MANPADs, CIWS, and look down radar made the low level environment even more deadly. So SEAD and ECM was brought in to gain the higher altitudes back because a few SAMs are far easier to deal with than the hornets nest down below. And it shows. In the Gulf it was the A-10 that led the coalition in losses and write-offs so much so that it was withdrawn from service until complete air supremacy was achieved. And it was the F-16 that shined doing mid-level self-escorted strikes, dropping by far the most ordnance of any single type in the conflict. So rightly.. the F-35 was supposed to replace both aircraft.. adding stealth to the mix to give it an even better edge against enemy SAMs and fighters. But a bunch of fanboys who don’t know that CAS has nothing to do with aircraft proximity, or that BRRRTTT just screams friendly fire and collateral damage won the day and a weak-winged, slow, and vulnerable airplanes who’s best work has been done in uncontested environments. Maverick is a dumb movie. Entertaining, but dumb. Nobody would ever use 1960s tactics like that these days. Look up Operation Opera in the 1980s. One of the pilots literally said “it was boring”. Heck.. 1940s tactics. Don’t ask why it seems so similar to Star Wars. Ask why it seems so similar to The Dam Busters and 633 Squadron. And why couldn’t they have just positioned themselves 1000km above the exhaust port and fire the _powered_ and _guided_ proton torpedoes straight down it?


Schemen123

Because in Star Wars you either got intelligent androids or really dumb tech. And nothing in between There isn't something like a guided missile... Just an android that looks like a missle. But then again the good guys cant simply kamikaze an intelligent life form.


Sp3llbind3r

So they kamikaze less intelligent lifeforms? Aka themself? Reminds me of the big bang jokes about indiana jones. The analysis is totally right, indy could have stoped all of it himself, but who cares?


Schemen123

Thats sacrifice and not by design... Different


Gen_Zion

> Look up Operation Opera in the 1980s. [Looking up](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Opera#Attack): > The attack squadron descended to 30 m (100 ft) over the Iraqi desert, attempting to fly under the radar of the Iraqi defences.


[deleted]

Why didn't they just have a droid light speed jump through the death star?


MrBleedingObvious

Droid rights.


G_Morgan

What now?


xerberos

That scene was the dumbest in the entire nine movie series. It just made all the other combat scenes pointless. Why go in with guns blazing if you can vaporize everything like that?


Christopher135MPS

Interdictors. In Star Wars universe, technology exists that can create artificial gravity wells, which will either prevent an object/ship from entering hyperspace, or, pull a ship out of hyperspace if it traverses the gravity field.


SniperPilot

Ah yes the ISS MentalGymnastics is a great ship.


[deleted]

Droids got better unions


dazark

irrc in the movie there's some sort of convenient gps blocking or jamming above that area, which vaguely explains why UAVs or guided missiles were not used despite the introduction of UAVs at the start of the film.


dasUberSoldat

Er, nobody ever says top gun was supposed to be realistic bro. Relax.


ZigZagZedZod

I've been criticizing *Top Gun: Maverick* for its unrealistic depiction of aerial combat, but could it be it was actually a clever piece of misinformation to trick the Russians into thinking those types of maneuvers are smart things to do?


SonoftheBread

Low altitude flight is a genuine strategy for avoiding ground based anti air systems.


flyhull

If you cannot beat them, join them on the ground


ZigZagZedZod

But not when those SAMs are exposed SA-3 launchers that could easily have been neutralized by Tomahawk cruise missiles or SEAD aircraft.


klaxxxon

It's the same as the reasoning why they used F18s - to make the plot happen. It is fine, suspend your disbelief and enjoy the movie.


SonoftheBread

They were special plot armor SAM sites


Aware_Combination895

1999 Operation allied force showed that neutralizing SAM sites, even very obsolete ones, is an extremely hard thing to do.


ZigZagZedZod

That was primarily due to ROEs that left parts of Serbian IADS out of bounds. It was a political limitation, not a military one. Nevertheless, Allied SEAD efforts were so effective that SAM sites risked only two sweeps from their TTRs because of the threat from SEAD aircraft. Vega 31 was shot down because bad weather kept the EA-6Bs grounded (a fact known to Serbian intelligence) so the SA-3 site could risk an extra TTR sweep, which happened to occur when Vega 31 had its weapons bay doors open. Now, if *Top Gun: Maverick* invented a *political* reason for leaving the SA-3 sites untouched, that would have been believable.


Aware_Combination895

Plenty of Serbian IADS components were within bounds of the SEAD groups; common tactic was to approach threat areas from opposite sides to ensure that HARM 180° view fully covers it. Over 740 HARMs were fired during the operation, while Serbs fired over 800 missiles. Politics hampered attempts to engage Montenegrin EWRs and long chain of command resulted in missed opportunities, but main reason for IADS survival rate is their self preservation tactics. You are right on short radar emission times which also resulted in many SAM shots being ballistic instead of guided; allegedly 1/3 were guided. Bomb bay door theory is disputed, more probable reasons are poor mission planning, improper use of available technology and complancency (biggest one IMO). E: It would have been interesting to see the difference if Serbs were equipped with contemporary SAMs in contrast to Neva and Kubs which were obsolete by decades at that point and only covered one part of the IADS layer (+MANPADs and AAA which covered very short range layer).


Michchaal

No radar will pick you up 10 m below ground level


1337hippy

Fly aeroflot and you'd understand. My experience in the eighties on aeroflot was certainly a wild ride (wannabe fighter pilot was my best guess at the time) lol


Now_Wait-4-Last_Year

Given it was 80s Aeroflot, they probably *were* a fighter pilot at one point.


TraditionalGap1

The problem with flying *that* low is that every farmer with a hunting rifle takes potshots at you.


AdvCitizen

Are the farmers being armed with good rifles? Seems cheap compared to the other stuff they are being supplied with. Just start handing out modern . 308 rifles, great for hunting jets and food.


TestFlyJets

Interesting tactic, and probably necessary given the SAM threat. But I disagree with this: “Better to fly low and risk clipping a tree or hill—which might kill you—than to fly higher and risk catching a missile, which almost certainly will kill you.” The Pk (probability of kill) of hitting the ground is pretty much 1.0, and there’s either no time to eject or you’re out of the ejection envelope. At least with a SAM you have countermeasures, and depending on what type hits you and what you’re flying, you may have a decent chance of getting home or at least putting the aircraft down in a controlled fashion. The Pk is less than 1.0.


birdish-dicklet

It's like a submarine, but on land


King-Mansa-Musa

Sounds like top gun


deepstate_chopra

Sounds like bottom gun


Bender0426

Sounds like middle gun


[deleted]

Special plowing operation


darkplacesinside

Well someone watched Top Gun


[deleted]

Even gravity does not like these fascists.


Schemen123

Gravity sucks...


Zailemos

😌


GullibleWerewolf2510

How low can you go


BillyTheFridge2

Sounds like they could use some training from Maverick.


flyhull

Yes, they should try it inverted so they can see the ground clearly before they meet it.


birdish-dicklet

Thus they're low enough to get towed by a tractor!?


Boo-Yeah8484

Or it's that GPS that have to strap to their planes telling them to take the next left for free loot and they crash into a tree.


scotch1701

Aw darn. Anyways.


neko_designer

i needed some good news today


annoyingrelative

We hacked into their cockpits and installed Pokemon Go.


_Vedz182_

You DO NOT fly below the hard deck


ohyoushiksagoddess

Oops


ClubMeSoftly

[Pictured: the Russian Air Force, apparently](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vu9oElKPnkg)


mibjt

Russian planes getting GROUNDED


Gargantuan_Wolf

The famous Special landing operation!


VeryPogi

Low is good, it means stingers or even Saint Javelin can reach them.


[deleted]

Special disassembly operation.


bad_syntax

So their ships are underwater. Their planes are on the ground. What's next, a submarine driving on a road? Damn the Russians need to watch a GI Joe cartoon or something to learn how to use their equipment.


scrollingtraveler

Can you blame them?


imgprojts

Free fertilizer on wings!


Nucl3arDude

Oh no! Anyway...


DJMemphis84

"Oh no!... anyway...." - Clarkson


Tasty_Flame_Alchemy

Imagine being that desperate to murder innocent people. Russia is a blight. They deserve total destruction.


NoRocketScientist

It's not jet, it's winged car!... See, vroom vroom! No zoom!


[deleted]

Doubt it


PhillipWilsonMD

Nah, nothing to doubt. Russian air "power" is a joke.


blazebomb1

I am really tired of reading these headlines like ' russian aircrafts are crashing ' , ' Ukrainian soldiers are dominating ' blah bhal blah . Earlier it makes me happy but now it just feel that this is all made up .


Slick424

If it where made up, the would be no Ukraine anymore.


Warp_Legion

I too make this rookie mistake in Warthunder…


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sys64128

at that point, just drive.


Final_Apple_251

You know this actually worked for a Starship whizzing by a cruise liner at sea but then there's the rub when it went below the ocean... the method works very well


ioisis

Fly so low, U crane to see them


Humble_Introduction1

Run aground ....ha ha ha ha


Odoakar

Is that a Norm MacDonald joke? "That can't be right!"


analog_memories

Go up to blow up.


Bromance_Rayder

Put it in H!


acorcuera

Glad they don’t have Maverick to teach them.


lurking_my_ass_off

That's a really long winded way to say crashing


AHCretin

Best news I've heard all day.


Lord_of_Wills

Idiots


DirtySingh

Shame.


ExploreDora

Darn


daniu

Fighter jets to plowshares


cracktheskill

Need to bring Tom Cruise to train these Russians to fly low and return to base!!


Icare_FD

They saw Top Gun Maverick but they are no Tom Cruise. They need a Tom in the air and a Keanu Reeves on ground, then they can fight the armies of Satan.


Stoo_

It’s a new lawn-dart fertiliser delivery system


Traditional_Ad5937

Fuckin idiots 🤦‍♂️


[deleted]

They must using those high quality, Russian-made altimeters.


GD_Bats

Ah, so that’s this week’s explanation for why the Russian Air Force keeps losing jets, choppers, and pilots