Yeah, that’s what they seem to be:
Looks to me as if the parachute got hung up on a tree just before the landing. Hard to tell given the poor quality of the video, though.
Would be rather ironic if the pilot ejected… and landed right on his burning aircraft. This was pretty close.
The physical part of the drone is pretty standard. It’s a 22 year old design. It’s propelled by a commercial Garret turboprop engine. Its design is basically that of an embiggened Predator, which dates back to the mid-90’s.
The prize is really all about the electronics and the sensors. If those are destroyed, there’s really not much the Russians will get out of it. But I imagine some electronics/sensors would survive.a remote wipe followed by a crash. Whether they’d be valuable intel, I don’t know.
I would think there would be some way to destroy or eject the electronics.
I thought he was…I do not know the proper term…maneuvering… the parachute to avoid the wreckage or some obstacle.
Did he believe rescue was on the way to fire the flares?
Like they couldn’t home in on the towering pillar of smoke?
Yeah.
I don’t know anything about their ability for rescue. The USA goes all out. Do the Russians have resources standing by? Were the flares dispersed automatically?
ISW Report
The Russian State Duma adopted the law on punishment for “discreditation” of all participants of the “special military operation” in Ukraine on March 14 to foster self-censorship within Russian society. Individuals found guilty of discrediting participants in combat operations will receive a fine of up to five million rubles ($65,530), up to five years of correctional or forced labor, or up to seven years in prison. Wagner Group financier Yevgeny Prigozhin responded to a journalist’s question about the law on March 15 stating that while he initiated and supported this law, he expected that it would not protect Wagner commanders and the Russian Ministry of Defense (MoD) from criticism. Prigozhin noted that he is not worried about being accused of discrediting the Russian MoD because he ”only speaks the truth” and has lawyers review all of his ”carefully worded” social media posts. Prigozhin also implied that Russia cannot physically arrest 146 million Russians, further indicating that this law aims to encourage self-censorship among Russians and hinting that many Russians share his views critical of the MoD.
I should have been clearer, I was talking about the electronics. From the video I understood that only the info would be erased, not that any systems would be destroyed. I would think if it could remotely destroyed, best to do it in the air rather than underwater. It’s not like a US drone hasn’t been brought down before and had backward engineering used on it.
Man, I hate when people edit video for apparently no reason. The video has a really sloppy edit at 0:27 because…? Not really sure about the flare part. They are fired too close together and don’t have the height of flare pistols I’ve seen and used. Those are single shot and break open like a double barreled shotgun to reload. This looks more like a roman candle. Then again, my experiences are from almost 20 years ago. I’m sure there is a lot of new stuff.
I just assumed they ‘cooked off’. But really know nothing about these systems.
Sounds good.
A Russian spy network has been uncovered in Poland. They were setting up cameras to “to film transport infrastructure used to deliver aid to Ukraine” and preparing sabotage plans. One possible target of their cameras was the airport Biden used to fly in for his Kyiv visit.
An FSB building is burning in a town near the Ukrainian border. Normally I take no pleasure in hearing about anyone dying, but I would share no tears about FSB losses.
Yes, could be a secretary, a maid, a janitor instead of a crazed KGB killer.
It looks like Moldova is next.
In other news, Russia is still failing to surround Bakhmut.
Who decides, and how to they decide*, that Putkin needs to have a defenestration accident?
Yes, yes, ‘very carefully’.
Vladimir Putin is pursuing big plans: in addition to Ukraine, Georgia, and Belarus, the dictator would also like to control Moldova.
While I’m sure Putin would LIKE to control Moldova, and that there were actually plans in place to do so…
I’m not convinced that at this point it would even be possible. What army is Putin going to use to do this? And how exactly will they get there?
I think any plans were contingent on controlling Ukraine first.
ETA: Moldova would be wise to put contingency plans in place to ensure they could quickly neutralize and expel any Russian troops currently stationed in their country. A pre-emptive strike.
The only thing Moldova could do is to allow itself to be annexed by Romania and become a de facto part of NATO. It doesn’t have a professional army. Even the bungling Russians couldn’t mess up that invasion.