This is significant, is it not?
This is the first time a NATO member has directly destroyed Russian (if that is the case) military hardware, since when?
edit: To answer my own question, since only 2015 when a Turkish F-16 shot down a Russian Su-24.
This is the first time a NATO member has directly destroyed Russian (if that is the case) military hardware, since when?
edit: To answer my own question, since only 2015 when a Turkish F-16 shot down a Russian Su-24.
There need to be some reprisals for this incursion, otherwise more Shaheds will "arrive" by "bad luck", of course.
A no-fly zone over a stretch of Western Ukraine, enforced by NATO air power, would be in place. Manned Russian aircraft don't operate there, only drones and missiles.
> These are not passive devices that operate autonomously
My understanding was that these are autonomous drones? Or rather — they have their route programmed before launch but then it's not remotely controlled.
Not this particular model. They can be left without operator attention for a while but they will fly where they're told to fly and can change their flight path during a mission.
BTW, they can be taken over post launch as a rule, this is one of the things that makes them a bit harder to take down, they don't follow a predictable trajectory and can react whilst underway. There are also jet powered versions that are a lot faster that are harder still to take down. The ones over Poland this morning all seem to be the prop based ones. There is also talk of at least one missile.
They absolutely, under no circumstances, can be allowed to gain such capability to deny NATO/Poland its own operations on its own territory at will.
A no-fly zone 100 km into Ukrainian territory is a way to prevent them from trying this again.
No-fly zone should include Belarus and I would argue even Kaliningrad
Lots of peeple see this one, as Hel is a major tourist destination.
I was there when a Russian ship tried to cut an underwater powerline, the back-and forth of Navy ships and helicopters lasted a few hours.
Super impressive.
It's interesting how many people seem to be under the impression that 'NATO isn't responding' because they're not giving Putin what he wants: direct involvement of NATO so he has another excuse to escalate (as if he needs one). Meanwhile, you can't move half a centimeter in all of Eastern Poland without an update on some situation monitor somewhere.
You get a very nice but extremely pointy SMS when you approach the Suwalki gap that leaves absolutely no room for doubt that you are entering a militarized zone and that there are standing orders to use live weapons so obey any and all instructions immediately and without so much as a 'but'. It's a bit funny because I have family in the region and was already aware of it but the degree to which they are bluntly informing the general public now is a clear indication that things have heated up considerably.