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On December 26 Russia’s Engels airbase experienced its second drone attack in a month. Can Ukrainian fighter jets perform such attacks, or was it conducted by a drone?
Ukrainian fighter jet Su-27. Image credit: Rob Schleiffert via Flickr, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
This airfield has immense strategic importance, because several strategic bombers are based there. This includes cruise missile carriers, which were used to attack energy infrastructure in Ukraine. But does this mean that Russia could be attacked by piloted jet fighters as well? Some believe it is possible.
Engels air base is located about 600 km from the Ukrainian border. Of course, this doesn’t mean much, since Ukraine hasn’t accepted any kind of responsibility for those attacks. On the other hand, Ukraine does seem like the most likely organizer of these missions and it’s been previously reported that Ukraine has drones with a range of up to 1000 km.
Tu-141 Strizh being used as an aerial target in Ukraine in 2021. Image credit: Mil.gov.ua via Wikimedia (CC BY 4.0)
Russian media claims that it is most likely that the Engels air base was attacked by the modified Soviet drone Tupolev Tu-141 Strizh. This type of drone took off for its maiden flight in 1974 and entered service in 1979. It is far from the latest word in technology.
In fact, the Soviet Union itself retired these drones in 1989. They were rare, to begin with, with only 152 of them being built. Strizh was replaced by Tupolev Tu-143 Reys, which is still in service in Russia (only as a target), Belarus, Syria, North Korea, and Ukraine.
Could those attacks be attributed to one of these drones? Well, both of them are technically made for reconnaissance, but they could be modified for kamikaze-type attacks. Strizh was returned to service in Ukraine in 2014 and has a range of around 1,000 km. Meanwhile, Reys can only fly for 200 km, which makes it a less likely culprit.
Russia claims that Ukraine is using modified Strizh drones to deliver deep punches into Russian territory. But does this mean that manned jet aircraft can soon be used to attack targets in Russia?
Well, Roman Svitan, reserve officer of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, pilot and military expert, believes so. Strizh drones are quite large (wingspan only 3.88 meters, but length – 14.33 meters) and yet they make it 600 kilometers into the Russian territory, which puts the Russian air defense capabilities under scrutiny.
“In the near future, our jet fighters can also cut through the air over the territory of Russia. No problem. If the Strizh passes, both the MiG-29 and the Su-27 will pass. In the near future, we will hear about the work of our pilots on the territory of the Russian Federation in a combat radius. This is about 700 km”, said Svitan.
Of course, there are reasons why it is not being done right now.
Russia says that while it experienced some damage, drones were shot down close to the airfield. These were suicide missions. Fighter jet pilots would have to go both ways. They are also bigger, and easier to spot and shoot down. Piloted missions may be successful right now, due to poor air defenses in Russia, but the risks are still too high. At least for now.
Sources: Wikipedia, Dialog.ua.
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