What does it mean when a fighter shakes its wings? Intercept the spy. Why are foreign planes so often driven away from Russian borders? Air defense combat aircraft

AiF.ru spoke about what it means to “intercept” a plane in the air and for what purpose it is carried out former aircraft commander, flight safety specialist Alexander Romanov:

— Each state has special airfields on its territory, where interceptor fighters are on duty around the clock. Typically, the crew is right in the cockpit to instantly start the engine and take off into the sky. Combat readiness - five minutes.

Having detected and identified the target, the fighter approaches it. The interceptor flies up to the intruder from the right side and attracts attention by swaying its wings (this maneuver is also interpreted by pilots as a greeting). Negotiations are being conducted with him through all communication channels in order to find out the reason for his appearance in foreign airspace or on the border with it. This could be a deliberate action (intelligence collection, provocation), or the board could simply go off course, losing its spatial position.

In any case, the Air Force's task is to stop the intruder. There is such an international flying language: if an interceptor fighter sharply crosses the course of another aircraft and goes, say, to the left, this means that its pilots must follow it.

That is, it is practically possible to force the plane to land at the desired airfield in order to find out whether the aircraft has permission to fly in a given place. Also, the fighter can “emerge” from the bottom up, indicating that the road is prohibited further. There are many such signals, about 25, and all of them are known to every pilot.

This is the essence of “intercepting” an aircraft in the air. There is no talk of any destruction of the “enemy” in the air. The interceptor fighter simply forces the intruder aircraft to adjust course (leave the protected airspace while being escorted) or land on the ground to further clarify the circumstances of the incident when air borders are violated.

— What happens if the intruder does not respond?

— If a detected aircraft continues to fly into a dangerous or restricted area, ignoring the requirements of the Air Force, then the military can open warning fire with tracer shells in front of the pilot’s cockpit. If there is no reaction here, then they can shoot to kill.

As a rule, if the intruder is a civilian aircraft, then one fighter is enough to “intercept” it, but if we are talking about military aircraft, then several military interceptor fighters take to the skies.

Today, many military aircraft and reconnaissance aircraft fly in neutral zones and over water areas. Unfortunately, this is all part of a huge strategic (or rather, political) game. Unfortunately, there were even cases when uninvited guests interfered with the flight civil courts, and they had to urgently change their course, which led to injury to passengers.

MOSCOW, November 28 – RIA Novosti, Andrey Kots. Pilots of duty fighter aircraft of the Russian air defense in recent months literally live in the sky. NATO aircraft appear at the country's borders more and more often: more than ten times a week, according to the Ministry of Defense. At the same time, the aviation of the “Western partners” is behaving more and more boldly and assertively. However, serious incidents have so far been avoided, largely thanks to the professionalism and composure of Russian fighter pilots. Read about what air interception is according to all the rules of aviation tactics in the RIA Novosti material.

Information confrontation between large states can often cast a generally routine situation in a light unfavorable for one of the parties. On Tuesday, CNN, citing sources in the Pentagon, reported that the P-8A Poseidon anti-submarine patrol aircraft of the US Air Force. The crew of the fighter allegedly, for no apparent reason, “cut off” the American over the neutral waters of the Black Sea - with a sharp maneuver from right to left, he crossed the course of the Poseidon. At the same time, the R-8A was thoroughly “churned up” by the jet streams of the powerful Su-30 engines, after which the purely “peaceful” side chose not to get involved with the “bully” and went away.

As military experts and civilian analysts have repeatedly stated, the main goal of NATO reconnaissance missions near Russian borders— test of air defense forces for strength. How quickly they react, where they are located, what complexes they are represented by. VKS respond to each such “visit” as quickly as possible. Firstly, other countries do not necessarily need to own one important information. Secondly, repelling a military aircraft defiantly heading towards the border of a sovereign state is a matter of prestige and principle. Thirdly, it is unknown what order the pilot of the potential intruder received. This means that its interception is a matter of national security. As a rule, each air operation is carried out according to a clear scenario.

“First of all, the aircraft must be escorted,” Major General, Honored Military Pilot of Russia Vladimir Popov told RIA Novosti. “The fighter on duty approaches the target and follows a parallel course with it. The main task at this stage is to identify the intruder aircraft. Next the interceptor transmits primary information to the ground: aircraft type, nationality, tail number. Immediately after this, the fighter pilot begins to actively attract the attention of the suspicious aircraft - it is necessary to show that he is under surveillance. The pilot, continuing to move on a parallel course, makes a quick roll. left and right - “flapping its wings.” On the one hand, it says: “Pay attention, I’m here!” On the other hand, it clearly demonstrates the air-to-air missiles mounted on slings under the wings.”

If the intruder does not react in any way, the fighter, maintaining the same course, increases speed and moves slightly forward in order to be guaranteed to be within the visibility range of the crew of its counterpart. When the pilot is convinced that he is being observed, he turns the control stick and makes a delicate “nod” towards the state border, hinting that it is time for the visiting guest to be honored. If the intruder does not respond, the pilot repeats all the elements in the same sequence, but from the other side of the suspicious aircraft. According to the rules of aviation etiquette, these actions are extremely correct, “gentlemanly” signals.

“In most cases, our pilots do not have contact with NATO aircraft,” Popov emphasized. “We cannot talk to the intruder pilot because we usually do not know his radio frequency. But if we do know, then, of course, we continuously bombard the airwaves with messages about "The inadmissibility of his behavior and we strongly recommend that he change course. In Syria, by the way, Russian and American aviation at least coordinate their actions and have a common communication channel. This allows us to avoid potential air accidents. But such cooperation is very rare today."

Insolence or breakdown

Over the past three to four years, the situation in the sky has become more tense. At NATO’s initiative, many programs for interaction between Russian and Western countries were curtailed military aviation. If earlier representatives of the North Atlantic Alliance warned the Ministry of Defense about planned flights in countries neighboring Russia (for example, in the Baltic states), now they prefer to remain silent about them. Moreover, NATO has significantly increased the number of cross-border air operations.

“We don’t know in advance who, what and why is sniffing around our borders,” says the major general. “Maybe the plane is flying by, maybe it has a breakdown. Or maybe it’s deliberately forcing us to react so that Western politicians will later once again they stated that the “Russian bear” does not know how to behave in the air. By the way, if we take the American version of Saturday’s events at face value, then it was their “Poseidon” that was “rude” If our Su-30 really “cut off” the R-. 8A and hit it with its jet streams, which means that the “anti-submarine” blatantly ignored all the previous “gentlemanly” signals, and the fighter pilot had to attract the attention of the “Poseidon” in a more aggressive way. I can assume that the American side was moving at a slight angle towards ours. border, so the Russian pilot could decide on such a maneuver."

If the intruder is not timid and is not frightened by turbulence, the interceptor “cuts off” him again. At the same time, he can request help from another machine. Next, two fighters take the reconnaissance aircraft in pincers and accompany it from both sides. If the intruder, even under such an escort, nevertheless crosses the border, the interceptors, with careful but unambiguous maneuvers, begin to force him to land at a Russian airfield. The second scenario is that the fighter pilot can show a “yellow card” and open fire along the intruder’s flight path from a cannon, as well as a combat or signal flare. This is both a clear threat and a last-ditch attempt to attract attention: “Where are you going?! Turn around immediately!” According to Vladimir Popov, similar situations arose regularly on the borders of the USSR in the 50s of the last century.

“I want to emphasize that today such a development of events is very rare,” said the lieutenant general. “Pilots of most countries fly politely and still do not cross the border. They provoke, yes. But they know when to stop. One more point: it is very important understand that even a military aircraft may experience a failure of radio equipment and navigation systems. And it is in distress, but is not able to send a signal. In this case, we politely “land” it with us, and then release it.

Viktor Popov recalled how a Russian plane found itself in a similar situation. On September 15, 2005, a group of Su-27 fighters flew from the Siversky airfield in the Leningrad region to one of the air bases near Kaliningrad. Already on the route, the pilot of one of the cars, Major Valery Troyanov, reported loss of orientation. Having exhausted the fuel supply, the pilot ejected. It turned out that he ended up on Lithuanian territory by mistake. The fighter crashed 55 kilometers from Kaunas. During the investigation, it turned out that the causes of the accident were piloting errors, as well as a failure of the navigation system.

The pilot, fortunately, survived. A loud international scandal was avoided - it was obvious to experts that the plane crossed the border unintentionally. However, this incident provoked a scandal in Lithuania when it became clear that the “invasion” of the Russian “drying” went unnoticed by the national air defense.

Last argument

However, we must not forget that cross-border incidents in the air can end much more tragically.

“A fighter pilot has the right to open fire only if a foreign aircraft has violated airspace, has not responded to previous signals and refuses to follow the convoy,” explains Vladimir Popov. “The pilot requests ground and, if he receives the appropriate order, shoots down the target. The most striking example: on November 28, 1973, an Iranian Air Force RF-4C reconnaissance aircraft, piloted by Iranian and American pilots, from Turkey invaded the airspace of the USSR through Armenia and Georgia. Our MiG-21SM fighter under the control of the captain flew out to intercept in the Georgian region. Gennady Eliseev. He had two missiles. He launched one along the enemy’s flight path as a warning. He did not turn away with the second missile, but it lost its target in the clouds.

An order came from the ground to stop the enemy at any cost. It was unknown what equipment and weapons the intruder was carrying and what its purpose was. And Eliseev decided on the last argument. He rammed the enemy, hitting his plane from below. The Soviet captain was killed and the RF-4C crew ejected and were captured on the ground. Later they were exchanged for our scouts. This case is the first in the history of aviation air ram on a supersonic plane. Western pilots prowling along Russian borders today should remember him more often."

The Pentagon once again announced that US Air Force aircraft “intercepted” Russian Tu-95 long-range missile-carrying bombers.

On September 1 and 11, 2018, F-22A stealth fighters flew to “intercept” two Tu-95M turboprops located in international waters near Alaska. Wherein Russian planes did not enter the airspace of either Canada or the United States. On September 11, the bombers were accompanied by Su-35S fighters.

It would be more correct to call such meetings not interception, but escort, because The "Raptors" flew on the same course as the "Bears" at a distance, without approaching or showing any aggressive actions. Both Russian pilots and American pilots carried out their tasks - ours practiced long flights with refueling in the air and indicated their presence near the areas of responsibility of a potential enemy. The Americans practiced response time to the appearance of Russian aircraft - takeoff, approach, escort and return to the airfield, and also observed the flight of bombers and practiced aiming weapons.

Interception is a slightly different action on both sides. The interceptor pilot is tasked with finding the object, approaching it, and forcing it to either leave Russian airspace or land at an airfield on Russian territory. In extreme cases, if the violator fails to comply with the requirements, he may be shot down.

A classic example of interceptions is the actions of Su-27 fighter pilots over the Black, Barents or Baltic Seas, when planes take off to drive away all sorts of “Poseidons” and “Orions” of NATO countries from our borders. At the same time, the Pentagon calls such cases “dangerous” and “unprofessional.” But in our opinion, the appearance of Russian "sushi" near insolent US reconnaissance aircraft can only be dangerous for the American (Norwegian, Canadian, etc.) pilots themselves, because When flying out on a mission, they understand perfectly well where they are flying and for what purpose.

A clear proof of this is the actions of Senior Lieutenant Vasily Tsimbal, who took off on September 13, 1987 in his Su-27 to intercept a P-3 Orion reconnaissance aircraft.

The Norwegian plane was not just engaged in reconnaissance, it dropped sonar buoys into the channel along which Soviet submarines went to sea. Having discovered an armed Su-27 nearby, the Norwegians did not react to it and continued their work.

In order to prevent the dumping of reconnaissance equipment, Vasily Tsimbal decided to adapt to Orion’s belly, and, releasing the brake flap, began maneuvering, but did not calculate the speed of approach and touched the propellers of the Norwegian aircraft with his left fin. The propeller fragments scattered into different sides and ripped through the Orion's fuselage. Only after this did the Norwegian plane change course and fly towards Norway.

Su-27 drove away a Norwegian P-3 Orion reconnaissance aircraft

But the senior lieutenant decided to consolidate the knowledge of the reconnaissance plane crew about what Russian pilots are capable of if their “sworn friends” do not show enough respect for their “partners.” Taking a position above the “Norwegian”, Vasily Tsimbal drained some of the fuel onto the Orion cabin and only after that left for his airfield.

Did the Cymbal work professionally? Certainly! Aggressively? Naturally! But without pressure, determination and non-standard actions It is impossible to convey to our “partners” that it is impossible to fly with impunity near our borders.

Pilots of duty fighter aircraft of the Russian air defense have literally been living in the sky in recent months. NATO aircraft appear at the country's borders more and more often: more than ten times a week, according to the Ministry of Defense. At the same time, the aviation of the “Western partners” is behaving more and more boldly and assertively.

However, serious incidents have so far been avoided, largely thanks to the professionalism and composure of Russian fighter pilots. Read about what air interception is according to all the rules of aviation tactics in the RIA Novosti material.

Information warfare between large states can often cast a generally routine situation in a light unfavorable for one of the parties.

The crew of the fighter allegedly, for no apparent reason, “cut off” the American over the neutral waters of the Black Sea - with a sharp maneuver from right to left, he crossed the course of the Poseidon. At the same time, the R-8A was thoroughly “churned up” by the jet streams of the powerful Su-30 engines, after which the purely “peaceful” side chose not to get involved with the “bully” and went home.

The version of the Russian Ministry of Defense is much more prosaic. The American plane was moving at high speed towards the Russian state border. A fighter from the duty air defense forces of the Southern Military District flew out to intercept it.

The Su-30 approached the Poseidon, flew around the aircraft, and determined its type and nationality. After this, both aircraft went about their business - the R-8A headed away from the Russian borders, and the Su-30 returned to the air base. In principle, it’s difficult to even call this event an interception - they “greeted” and ran away.

"Gentlemanly" signals

As military experts and civilian analysts have repeatedly stated, the main purpose of NATO reconnaissance missions near Russian borders is to test the strength of air defense forces. How quickly they react, where they are located, what complexes they are represented by.

VKS respond to each such “visit” as quickly as possible.

First, other countries do not necessarily have such important information.

Secondly, repelling a military aircraft defiantly heading towards the border of a sovereign state is a matter of prestige and principle.

Thirdly, it is unknown what order the pilot of the potential intruder received. This means that its interception is a matter of national security. As a rule, each air operation is carried out according to a clear scenario.

“First of all, the aircraft must be escorted,” Major General, Honored Military Pilot of Russia Vladimir Popov told RIA Novosti. - The fighter on duty approaches the target and follows a parallel course with it. The main task at this stage is to identify the intruder aircraft.

Next, the interceptor transmits primary information to the ground: aircraft type, nationality, tail number. Immediately after this, the fighter pilot begins to actively attract the attention of the suspicious aircraft - it is necessary to show that he is under surveillance.

The pilot, continuing to move on a parallel course, makes a quick roll to the left and right - “flapping his wings.” On the one hand, it says: “Pay attention, I’m here!” On the other hand, it clearly demonstrates air-to-air missiles mounted on slings under the wings.”

When the pilot is convinced that he is being observed, he turns the control stick and makes a delicate “nod” away from the state border, hinting that it is time for the visiting guest to be honored.

If the intruder does not respond, the pilot repeats all the elements in the same sequence, but from the other side of the suspicious aircraft. According to the rules of aviation etiquette, these actions are extremely correct, “gentlemanly” signals.

“In most cases, our pilots do not have contact with NATO aircraft,” Popov emphasized. - We can't talk to the intruder pilot because we usually don't know his radio frequency.

But if we know, then, of course, we continuously bombard the airwaves with messages about the inadmissibility of his behavior and strongly recommend that he change course. In Syria, by the way, Russian and American aviation are somehow coordinating their actions and have a common communication channel.

This avoids potential air accidents. But such cooperation is very rare today.”

Insolence or breakdown

Over the past three to four years, the situation in the sky has become more tense. At NATO's initiative, many programs for interaction between Russian and Western military aviation were curtailed.

If earlier representatives of the North Atlantic Alliance warned the Ministry of Defense about planned flights in countries neighboring Russia (for example, in the Baltic states), now they prefer to remain silent about them. Moreover, NATO has significantly increased the number of cross-border air operations.

“We don’t know in advance who is snooping around our borders, what and why,” says the major general. - Maybe the plane is flying by, maybe it has a breakdown. Or perhaps he is deliberately forcing us to react, so that later Western politicians will once again declare that the “Russian bear” does not know how to behave in the air.

By the way, if we take the American version of Saturday’s events on faith, then it was Poseidon who was “rude”. If our Su-30 really “cut” the R-8A and battered it with its jet streams, it means that the “anti-submarine officer” blatantly ignored all the previous “gentlemanly” signals.

And the fighter pilot had to attract the attention of Poseidon in a more aggressive way. I can admit that the American plane was flying at a slight angle towards our border, so the Russian pilot could decide on such a maneuver.”

If the intruder is not timid and is not frightened by turbulence, the interceptor “cuts off” him again. At the same time, he can request help from another machine.

Next, two fighters take the reconnaissance aircraft in pincers and accompany it from both sides. If the intruder, even under such an escort, nevertheless crosses the border, the interceptors, with careful but unambiguous maneuvers, begin to force him to land at a Russian airfield.

The second scenario is that the fighter pilot can show a “yellow card” and open fire along the intruder’s flight path from a cannon, as well as a combat or signal flare.

This is both a clear threat and a last-ditch attempt to attract attention: “Where are you going?!” Turn around immediately!” According to Vladimir Popov, similar situations arose regularly on the borders of the USSR in the 50s of the last century.

“I want to emphasize that today such a development of events is very rare,” said the lieutenant general. - Pilots from most countries fly politely and still do not cross the border. They provoke, yes. But they know when to stop.

One more point: it is very important to understand that even a military aircraft can experience failure of radio equipment and navigation systems. And he is in distress, but is unable to give a signal. In this case, we politely “plant” him with us, and then let him go home.”

Already on the route, the pilot of one of the cars, Major Valery Troyanov, reported loss of orientation. Having exhausted the fuel supply, the pilot ejected. It turned out that he ended up on Lithuanian territory by mistake. The fighter crashed 55 kilometers from Kaunas. During the investigation, it turned out that the causes of the accident were piloting errors, as well as a failure of the navigation system.

Last argument

However, we must not forget that cross-border incidents in the air can end much more tragically.

“A fighter pilot has the right to open fire only if a foreign aircraft has violated airspace, has not responded to previous signals and refuses to follow the convoy,” explains Vladimir Popov.

The pilot requests “ground” and, if he receives the appropriate order, shoots down the target. The most striking example: on November 28, 1973, an Iranian Air Force RF-4C reconnaissance aircraft, piloted by Iranian and American pilots, invaded Soviet airspace from Turkey through Armenia and Georgia.

In the Georgian region, our MiG-21SM fighter flew out to intercept, under the control of Captain Gennady Eliseev. He had two missiles. He launched one along the enemy aircraft's flight path as a warning.

He didn't turn away. Eliseev fired a second missile to kill, but it lost its target in the clouds. And the gun jammed.

This incident is the first aerial ramming of a supersonic aircraft in the history of aviation. Western pilots prowling along Russian borders today should remember him more often.”

Recently, reports of air interceptions by our fighters of US aircraft have been received as regularly as information about the preparations for the Victory Parade.

On April 14, a Su-27 was intercepted by an American reconnaissance aircraft RC-135 in the skies over the Baltic Sea. The American generals did not like this maneuver. They said the Russian pilot acted improperly by endangering the safety of his American colleague. He got scared and changed course.

On April 21, a MiG-31 intercepted an American R-8 anti-submarine aircraft in the Kamchatka region. At the same time, American generals expressed satisfaction with the actions of the Russian pilot, saying that everything was done correctly.

Different generals commented on these two events, since in both cases the Russian pilots approached the intercepted targets at the same distance of 15 meters.

Such incidents have become more frequent due to the deterioration of relations between Russia and the United States. At the same time, the West traditionally accuses the Russian side of dangerous maneuvers. That is, everything turns upside down. Because in reality, the interceptions are a response to the unfriendly actions of NATO aircraft, which have intensified reconnaissance flights near the Russian border. And if they had not met resistance, reconnaissance planes would have penetrated into our airspace.

Moreover, the maneuver, which the Pentagon calls “dangerous,” is not only effective, but also the only way to force a potential border violator to sharply change course. The shorter the approach distance, the greater the emotions experienced by American pilots, who have not encountered such disrespectful attitude in this century. So, in mid-2014, over the same Baltic Sea, a Su-27 pilot flew up to an RC-135, a rather clumsy aircraft, at a distance of about eight meters. The American was so shocked that out of fear he invaded Swedish airspace. The Swedes showed him much more friendliness.

What is aircraft interception?

To be precise in terms of terminology, then everything that was said above is not interception at all. A demonstration of intentions and capabilities. Interception is an air defense force action that is intended to destroy a target or disable it or force it to land. It uses ground services (radar and target guidance command posts), anti-aircraft missile and artillery systems, as well as fighter aircraft. Moreover, specialized aviation - interceptors, which include MiG-31 and Su-27 aircraft.

The sequence of actions is as follows. Ground radars detect the target. Its coordinates, distance, speed, direction of movement are calculated. The trajectory of movement is determined. And the command is given to launch an anti-aircraft missile. Or an interceptor takes off and is issued flight mission— speed and direction of flight. What is called pointing an interceptor at a target. Following commands from the ground, the interceptor at some point in its trajectory approaches the target within attack distance. Moreover, he is in a position convenient for attack. And it either fires at the target from a cannon or hits it with a rocket.

If we're talking about about a forced landing, the attacking fighter fires warning shots from a cannon to demonstrate the seriousness of its intentions. Preventive missile fire is impossible because the missile has a homing system for the target.

The interceptor fighter is subject to higher requirements than aircraft designed to gain air superiority - in terms of speed and altitude. Because you have to fight with scouts, who, as a rule, are also high-speed and high-altitude (the RC-135, which was discussed above, is not one of these).

Still in use in third world countries, including Ukraine, the Soviet MiG-25 interceptor has a maximum speed of 3,000 km/h and a ceiling of 27,000 m. It was in service here from 1970 to 2012. It was armed with four guided missiles.

The Su-27, with more modest speed and altitude indicators (2500 km/h and 18500 m), has more serious weapons. Firstly, this is a cannon, which the MiG-25 did not have. Secondly, as many as 10 hardpoints, since the aircraft belongs to the class of heavy fighters.

And finally, without a doubt, the world's best interceptor, the MiG-31, which has now been modified to the MiG-31BM version. Despite the fact that it has been in operation since 1981, equipping it with a new radar and weapons control system brought the vehicle to the 4++ generation. The plane had a cannon. Equipped with 8 short-, medium- and long-range missiles (up to 300 km) in various combinations. The MiG-31BM is capable of hitting not only any aircraft, but also cruise missiles. Maximum speed - 3000 km, dynamic ceiling - 29000 m, practical ceiling - 20600 m.

Opponents

In the mid-50s, the Boeing RB-47 Stratojet, converted from the main US jet bomber, “shine” in the sky. It had a subsonic speed and a ceiling of 13 thousand meters, but it took it with its power. It fired from two cannons and had great survivability. Due to its large carrying capacity (up to 11 tons), it was loaded with a large volume of spy equipment, which was serviced by three officers. In 1954, six Soviet MiG-17s could not do anything with the “American” in the area Kola Peninsula. That same year, three more incursions into Soviet territory went unpunished. However, then, starting in 1955, the US Air Force said goodbye to another downed reconnaissance aircraft almost every year.

The most impressive interception was carried out in the summer of 1960 over the Kola Peninsula captain Vasily Amvrosievich Polyakov on the MiG-19.

After Polyakov conveyed to the command post that he had visually determined the type of aircraft and its identity, an order was received to land the intruder. RB-47 pilot William Palm did not obey the signal: “Attention! Follow me".

After which a command was received from the ground to destroy the target. Since Polyakov was at a distance of 30 meters from the “American,” it was impossible to use unguided missiles. And then he fired a burst from a 30-mm cannon, expending 111 shells.

The reconnaissance aircraft had two engines on fire. The plane lost control and began to lose altitude. The crew of three left the plane and used inflatable rafts. The commander died in the water from hypothermia. The two were picked up by the Tobolsk fishing trawler. For unknown reasons, three reconnaissance equipment operators did not leave the plane and went to the bottom with it.

Introduced in 1956, the Lockheed U-2 reconnaissance aircraft still has the world's highest aerodynamic efficiency (ratio of lift to drag) among production aircraft. Essentially, it is a glider with a jet engine. It is capable of soaring at altitudes exceeding 20 km, long time, periodically turning off the engine. For 4 whole years it was inaccessible to Soviet fighter aircraft - not a single aircraft could reach such a height. Over 4 years, the U-2 made 24 flights over the territory of the USSR. He spotted the location of the Baikonur Cosmodrome and a number of other strategic sites.

However, on May 1, 1960, he was shot down by a missile that had just appeared in air defense service. Soviet Union ZRS-75. From that moment on, U-2 impunity became a thing of the past. It was these missiles that shot him down in China, Cuba, and Vietnam. In our skies, the pilots of this beautiful aircraft no longer tempted fate.

The U-2, which has been modernized several times, is still in service. But pilots no longer perceive flying it as highly useful for reconnaissance purposes, but as some kind of pure art, like poetry of the sky.

The legendary Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird, in operation until 1998, was capable of accelerating to 3.3 M and rising to a height of 25,600 meters. Due to sharp maneuvers he could evade the missile. Stealth technologies were used in its creation. However, they turned out to be ineffective. At high speeds, the body became quite hot and emitted a lot of noise in the infrared range. The jet exhaust gave even greater visibility.

For quite a long time he calmly “visited” Kamchatka, collecting intelligence information. True, he did not cross the border. But after the appearance of the MiG-31 in the air defense forces, the quiet life for American pilots ceased. Although, of course, there was no mortal danger. Several times MiG pilots encountered the Blackbird in the neutral zone. That is, they waited for him to overtake the interceptor at his terrible speed. After which they caught the “American” in the sights, “feeling” with the beam of the guidance system. The SR-71, feeling “frying,” abruptly changed course and went away from Kamchatka to the Okinawa base, without completing its combat mission.

"Passya" scout and in the area of the Kola Peninsula. Here the MiGs used the same tactics of conditional interception. But one day, on May 27, 1987, the SR-71 got carried away and ended up over our territory. In the same scenario, he was forced into the neutral zone.

In the late 1980s, Blackbird flight activity declined significantly. And then it completely disappeared. US attempts to restart the project in 1993 were unsuccessful. Official version— the operation of unique machines is too expensive. However, there is an opinion, expressed not only in Russia, but also in the United States, that to a certain extent, the refusal to use the SR-71 was influenced by the MiG-31 interceptors capable of resisting the formidable machine. As well as the adoption of the latest modifications of the S-300 air defense system, capable of easily reaching the Drozd in the skies, no matter how quickly it accelerates.

As for the RC-135 and R-8, which were conditionally intercepted in April, they do not pose the slightest problem for Russian interceptors. The first one was created in the mid-60s. The second one began operation in 2013. But, in essence, these are passenger airliners that have exactly the same flight characteristics. The first one is filled with spy equipment. The second patrols the waters in search of submarines. But he shouldn’t get too close to the Russian shores.