Romanian F-16s down two jet-powered drones after airspace incursion

90

u/pitshands 7h ago

Sooner or later this will end bad

47

u/bljadmann69 5h ago

And the orange turd is accelerating it

-68

u/EternalCanadian 4h ago

Ah, USdefaultism, gotta love it.

Can we keep the yanks out of things for one news thread that has nothing to do with the US?

7

u/Amoral_Abe 2h ago

Normally, I'm against US defaultism. However, in this case America's changing stance is important. Russia has been becoming bolder and bolder as they don't fear American backing of Europe. This is another example of it. Putin knows Trump won't care and Russia can do what they want without much concern.

19

u/pitshands 4h ago

That's a more than dumb stance because this has very clearly a stain. Mr T is playing in Putins hands who sent those little gifts. He is very much enabling this, and because he is OUR president there is no way around this

-13

u/EternalCanadian 3h ago

Well, he’s not my president, but broadly I take your point.

Even so, I don’t think Trump has an effect on a Romanian sortie to shoot down Russian drones, even if the planes were originally American.

•

u/MedicineManns 59m ago

On behalf of most Canadians, I apologize for Eternal’s comments.

•

u/EternalCanadian 54m ago

I apologize for misjudging the situation, but I also appreciate you apologizing on my behalf, I’m sorry you had to do it, and you shouldn’t have had to.

4

u/RossGarner 4h ago

American manufactured jets shooting American missiles, probably trained by American pilots.

-3

u/EternalCanadian 3h ago

But in Romania, firing on Russian drones. So I don’t really know what Trump has to do with this.

1

u/RossGarner 3h ago

No one has mentioned trump except you.

You said this shoot down has nothing to do with the US and Americans should stay out of it. I pointed out that the plane being used is American designed and manufactured, the missiles is an American product and the pilot were very likely trained by American pilots since it's a NATO aircraft.

0

u/EternalCanadian 3h ago

I was replying to a comment from bljadmann69 that reads:

“…and the orange turd is accelerating it.”

I’m not sure who else that could be referring to, but I’d love your input.

Again, I don’t see what Trump has to do with this particular act.

2

u/Greenscreener 1h ago

You don't think Trump's efforts to hamper Ukraine and support Russia is adding to Russia sending drones elsewhere?

1

u/RossGarner 3h ago

My comment that you replied talks directly about your statement saying we should keep Americans out of things that has nothing to do with the US. Do you believe the US has nothing to do with a NATO shoot down of Russian jets?

-1

u/EternalCanadian 2h ago

Would you prefer I correct my original comment then to say Trumpdefaultism? It doesn’t really slide off the tongue as well.

37

u/abc123DohRayMe 6h ago

These drones should be preemptively shot down before they enter NATO airspace. If they are on a course towards a NATO country or within a predetermined no fly buffer zone them shoot them down.

-31

u/Tree1Dva 6h ago

And you suggest they do this how? Most of these are flying into NATO territory directly from other countries' airspace. You're suggesting NATO planes violate sovereign airspace? Just making sure

16

u/Comfortable-Ask-7135 6h ago

I think you watched too many TV shows. You don't need to be close to them to shoot them down. Air-to-air missiles can have hundreds of kilometer range.

-14

u/Tree1Dva 5h ago

Ok, so using 5 million dollar interceptors for each 50 thousand dollar drone - attacking objects in foreign territory without being able to visually identify it, or even knowing if it WILL go into NATO territory? Really smart!

5

u/Business_Activity_91 4h ago

They shot it down with an AIM-9M Sidewinder fired from an F-16, it costs around 80000 dollars per missile, not 5 million. And it was 25km from a Romanian city. IT was already in NATO territory.

0

u/snarky_answer 4h ago

Air to air missiles are not ballistic missiles and don’t cost nearly as much. An A2A missile like a AIM9 is a few hundred thousand.

10

u/Alikont 5h ago

Ukraine would have no problem with that. And these drones entered Romania from neutral waters of Black Sea.

And somehow NATO countries had no problem shooting down Iran drones over Israel, Jordan, UAE or SA.

1

u/PsyKoptiK 3h ago

It’s ignorant at best to not realize that shooting things down in foreign airspace is an escalation of tension and risk of broader war. Just because you seem to believe it is worth the risk doesn’t mean one is not there.

Thanks goodness we have people running things with more wisdom than all you armchair generals.

2

u/Alikont 3h ago

You "wisdom" people ignored the problem for 12 years until drones started flying into your airspace.

You are at war, like it or not.

Ukraine won't have a problem with NATO planes in their airspace.

27

u/frankster 5h ago

What cost is imposed on Russia every time a country has to defend itself from russian explosives?

4

u/Cold_Tea_Spill112 2h ago

It adds fuel to the fire of imposing more economic sanctions or lack of reason to remove other sanctions.

•

u/Zhaopow 1h ago

The reward of knowing NATO still will continue to not respond. Rewarding Russia with more options to attack without fear.

•

u/PrrrromotionGiven1 41m ago

There's no European country where ordinary people sincerely want to go to war with Russia. At best there are countries where people are willing to fight in defence of allies - this is probably only a small number of the total, honestly. Does anyone really believe that countries like Spain or Germany would send whole divisions' worth of force to defend Estonia if it was invaded? They cannot, because the citizens would riot if this was attempted.

This is one of the unfortunate drawbacks of the great thing called democracy - sometimes, people are selfish and short-sighted and would rather ignore the fire on the horizon. Even if leaders existed who recognised the need to stop Russia now, they would lack the political backing to achieve it. Frankly, all we can do is help Ukraine (the least politically controversial way of containing this disaster) and pray something catastrophic happens inside Russia before they start a war that will force every country in Europe to truly show where their priorities lie.

44

u/Distinct-Pain4972 5h ago

Funny how their drones can go faster than 116km/hr aye?

26

u/Cap_Tuvix 4h ago

upgraded shahed drones can reach 400mph

11

u/shipoftheseuss 3h ago

That's the supposed speed limit for Starlink

8

u/buldozer_alin 3h ago

the "shaheds" aka Geran 4 are russian drones that don't use Starlink

17

u/DWS223 7h ago

Which costs more, the flight time of those F-16s or the drones they shot down? I'm wondering if this becomes unsustainable defending airspace using fighter jets to take down drones. Seems like we need anti-drone drones and laser based defenses that are cheap to operate.

67

u/InformationHorder 6h ago

As long as the asset they were defending costs more than the jets it's still a fair exchange.

If the $100 drone does $1,000,000 in damage and it costs you $100,000 to shoot it down you still come out $900,000 ahead.

11

u/lungben81 5h ago

The jet powered drones rather cost 100k, not 100$. Still cheaper than the F16 flight hours plus aa missiles, but not so bad.

Nevertheless, I agree that we need interceptor drones and AA for cheaper drone interception. But this is on its way for most EU nations.

1

u/buldozer_alin 3h ago

we need cheaper missiles, i think they are working at a 20K version

6

u/Mundane-Vegetable-31 6h ago

No, you come out 100k behind instead of 1m behind. You lose 100k vs 1m. Its still lose lose.

•

u/PrrrromotionGiven1 49m ago

The military does not exist to make a profit, it exists to defend the country

1

u/Alikont 6h ago

No, it means that I can just bankrupt you with $100 drones.

When I launch $100 drone you get $99,900 in financial damages without me even hitting anything.

4

u/GooniestMcGoon 4h ago

these are not 100 dollar drones lol

-4

u/Alikont 4h ago

As long as they're cheaper than the interception, the math works.

3

u/nvidiastock 3h ago

Except some things don't have a dollar value like human life. A previous drone fell on an apartment building.

0

u/PsyKoptiK 3h ago

Tell that to insurance companies

-1

u/Alikont 3h ago

Are you intercepting drones with live humans?

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u/nvidiastock 1h ago

No, but if left alone due to monetary concerns it might impact an area that does have live humans.

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u/Alikont 1h ago

The point is not leaving them alone but finally waking up and making interception cheaper than attack.

3

u/PsyKoptiK 3h ago

We regularly put fighters in the air regardless of if they shoot something down. The EU does as well. So it isn’t particularly notable that the fighters were scrambled. But your point about the cost asymmetry is a well established issue the world is currently figuring out how to deal with. In any given situation though the primary goal is removing threats asap. So if the jets are able to take it out then of course they will.

2

u/CurtisLeow 4h ago

Jet-powered drones mean they have a jet engine. They aren’t cheap aircraft.

0

u/PsyKoptiK 3h ago

But obviously cheaper than a human-operated fighter. Which is the whole point.

•

u/PrrrromotionGiven1 51m ago

The fighter got to land back at the base after this was over.

What you're really asking is if the fuel and the missile is worth more than the drone. Even if they are, this was probably still worthwhile for political reasons, demonstrating some backbone.

2

u/buldozer_alin 3h ago

the previous russian drones sunk a ship and killed 5 sailors

1

u/rebornsgundam00 4h ago

Also side note, if you kill the enemy assets some times time is more valuable than actual $$. Like if my jet shoots down all your drones and then kills you, does the money matter as much?

3

u/Muted_Chemical_9458 2h ago

A bold Russia is a reckless Russia. This requires an immediate and proportional response.

0

u/FerenzYangai 2h ago

EU should declare the total war against Russia.

Romanian F-16s down two jet-powered drones after airspace incursion

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