MOSCOW, July 2. /TASS/. US strategic drones that fly over the Black Sea to collect intelligence data for Ukraine can be intercepted by MiG-31 jets or air defense systems, said military analyst Igor Korotchenko.
"One should understood that, with US strategic aerial reconnaissance drones, the only, perhaps, adequate way to influence them will be to use MiG-31s, which will be able to pass in close proximity to them and have an impact that can either cause the UAV to fall, or urgently return to the airfield it had departed from. However, such methods are rather ‘exotic,’ as they require, firstly, the MiG-31 pilot to have great skills, and secondly, theoretically do not rule out such air incidents as a possible collision with an enemy drone - either due to piloting error or unreasonable actions of operators that remotely control the UAV," Korotchenko, who is also editor-in-chief of the National Defense magazine, told TASS.
He said the most effective way to fight such targets is to use long-range surface-to-air missile systems, such as the S-400 or S-300V, which are armed with long-range SAMs, as well as use air-to-air missiles carried by MiG-31s.
"However, this requires an appropriate legal justification such as a special regime for the use of this segment of airspace, or certain restrictions to be set by the Russian side, which should also, preferably, be based on an earlier precedent of a similar kind," the analyst said.
"Or Russia will be forced to create such a precedent itself," said Korotchenko.
According to earlier news reports, a US strategic reconnaissance drone RQ-4B Global Hawk patrols airspace over the Black Sea near Crimea. The Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement that the Global Hawk was on duty over the Black Sea on June 23, when the Kiev regime, with the support of the US, attacked Sevastopol, killing and injuring people.