Interesting. Even worse than thought. If it had been mistaken for a Ukrainian drone or warplane, that would have been one thing, but this means the Russians knew perfectly well it was just an airliner but still fired on it anyway.
That is strange for Russia to attack a friendly country’s airliner.
Makes me wonder if some nervous Air Defense Tech acted without checking with his superiors.
Russia is on a war footing and air defense systems are getting tested hourly.
It’s still reprehensible regardless of the war.
@smithsb thanks for the link.
I dunno; I sure don’t trst them.
I can’t type and got rejected for a job in air defense. 
Well, this one’s so obvious even The Big Boss has to issue an evasive apology…
Putin apologizes to Azerbaijani leader for ‘tragic’ plane crash | AP News
“A tragic incident in Russian airspace…” Do tell, Vlad.
Why do I think there’s a whole SAM battery that will be accounted as “all hands lost heroically in a drone strike” before we make it far into the new year?
Since this was an intentional act (the airliner had consistently identified itself as an airliner), I’m trying to understand what Putin thinks was the benefit of this.
- Shoot down Azerbaijani airliner
- Apologize
- ???
- Benefit!
I’m pretty much 99+% certain this was just an accident, combining stupidly intransigent air traffic controllers, poor communication and jumpy missile battery operators in a what is functionally a war zone. Russian IFF appears to be just generally shitty - everything looks like a target. So something harmless veering off course to someplace unexpected reads as a threat.
Putin and Russia aren’t interested in shooting down random Azerbaijani airliners. They just fucked the dog and not for the first time. Sadly probably not the last time, either.
Not to disagree with your conclusions, but I think ‘generally shitty’ is far too weak as a descriptor of IFF that can’t distinguish between airliners with their transponders on and Ukrainian drones.
Yeah, if IFF were the case, then we’d have dozens of airliners shot down every week.
(Edit, never mind)
No, that makes no sense. Azerbaijan is nominally an ally. There’s no gain here for Russia whatsoever.
It’s a colossal fuckup. IFF systems that aren’t great at the best of times stuck into the worst of times, compounded by poorly trained personnel, quite possibly either drunk or hung over, and an airliner that was outside of the normal flightpaths. The surprising thing is that it took this long to happen.
It just now occurred to me to wonder how many poor drone-sized Grey and Purple Herons have triggered missile launches or panicky ground fire 
.
Why yes, the Cold War is back.
I think it’s even more dangerous now.
There’s a link in the 2nd quote. Discusses the security risks to the undersea cables. How can thousands of miles of sea be defended?
Another aid package. Where is Ukraine warehousing all this military equipment and supplies? There’s no place inside Ukraine safe from Russia’s bombers.
There’s no place that’s 100.0% safe, but for most of the country, the odds are strongly in Ukraine’s favor. Even Kyiv, a high-value target whose exact location Russia knows precisely and which isn’t moving, is mostly untouched. Now take a location that’s even further west, whose coordinates aren’t published.
Can’t it be stockpiled in Poland until needed? Or is there a danger that the new administration might try to claw it back?
I’ve read that some of the hardware comes from draw downs of US military inventory. I think that should arrive ASAP.
Some hardware has to be manufactured and delivered later. If I understand correctly, the US contracts assure companies that they can invest in upgrading their factories to fill these orders.
That’s a crucial US benefit. We’ve already ramped up production and creating new US jobs. If things heat up between NATO and Russia; we have some military hardware manufacturing already in place.
Link Biden says U.S. will send $2.5 billion more in military aid to Ukraine | PBS News
You disperse it, hide it, and guard it with air defense. Russia does target depots and has been successful in the past. They don’t have the targeting or munitions to get it all/enough though.
Any specific details on the $2.5 billion? Like, Javelins/Stingers/GMLRS/Bradley etc.
That’s exactly what the Russians would want to know, wouldn’t they?
Another article, this one from Estonia, on that undersea cable being intentionally damaged by ship’s anchors. They noticed that the ship in question was not behaving as it should, and it certainly seems deliberate.