Ukraine’s air defence force given instructions to hunt down Russian pilots using foreign SAMs

Photo by © Department of Information and Mass Communications of the Russian Defense Ministry

On May 13, 2023, two Mi-8 helicopters, a Su-34 frontline bomber and a Su-35 fighter were shot down in the Bryansk region. Nine military pilots were killed.

On the outskirts of the town of Klintsy all three crew members were killed when the Mi-8 crashed, with one woman injured on the ground. Near the village of Volkustichi in Unechsky district, three more crew members died when a second Mi-8 helicopter crashed. A Su-34 with two crew members crashed near Starodub, about 20 kilometres from the Ukrainian border with Chernihiv Oblast, and a Su-35 fighter pilot was killed in the village of Suretskiy Muravey, Klintsovsk district.

The War Chronicle telegram channel reports that Mi-8MTPR-1 electronic warfare (EW) helicopters with Rychag-AV active jamming stations were covering a Su-34 frontline bomber that was near the border with Chernihiv Region to drop FAB-500 bombs with planning and correction modules. “From this direction, Russian aviation has been actively working on military and logistics facilities of the AFU for the last two months. Presumably, after dropping the bombs, the vehicles lay on a reverse course, after which they were attacked by missiles of an unknown type,” the Voyennaya Khronika writes.

Places of attack on aircraft and helicopters of the air group
Places of attack on aircraft and helicopters of the air group. Photo: © Rybar.ru

According to Russian Spring’s Voenkorov, a planned operation was carried out with a massive launch of air-to-air missiles from the territory of Chernihiv Region. “American medium-range AIM-120 air-to-air missiles may have been used,” the Voynkorov believes.

The AIM-120 AMRAAM has several versions. The AIM-120A/B/C modifications have a range of up to 50 kilometres to hit targets, the Military Chronicle explains to its readers. The AIM-120C-5/6/7 version allows hitting targets at twice the range of 105 kilometres. The AIM-120D version is considered the longest range one, with a range of approximately 150-160 kilometres.

Missiles of this type are equipped with active radar homing heads, which immediately after launch can work in the mode of homing interference (HOJ), emitted by radar-guided missile systems of combat aircraft and helicopters. “These complexes could be the switched-on Rychag-AV and Khibiny stations installed on Su-34s and Mi-8s. What’s more, these homing heads have high jamming immunity, enabling them to separate the reflected signal from the jammers as they approach the targets,” the Military Chronicle simulates the May 13 events.

The authors of the tg-channel believe that it is likely that the area of combat application of the planning and correction modules gliding bombs has long been monitored by the AFU and foreign specialists, who help the Ukrainian troops with intelligence for combat operations. “Regardless of which version is eventually confirmed, additional conclusions have to be drawn regarding the safety of frontline bombers, because if a large number of Su-34s are lost, less technologically advanced aircraft will have to be used to use bombs with UMPCs, and the tactics of such strikes will have to be seriously revised,” the Chronicle writes.

The Rybar website noted that the Ukrainian fighters to attack the Russian air group could have taken off from an airfield in Mirgorod in the Poltava Region, where a fighter squadron is stationed. This version is supported by the fact that the Polish MiG-29s transferred to the AFU have been upgraded and can carry modifications of the AIM-120A/B/C medium-range air-to-air missiles.

The Russian Defence Ministry did not comment on the May 13 events in the Bryansk Region. A day later, after consulting its informed sources, Rybar changed its opinion as to who and how could have carried out the attack on the Russian air group.

“With a 95% probability the ambush was carried out from a NASAMS SAM, whose crew knew the exact corridor the Russian air group was supposed to fly in. Local residents saw six simultaneous launches in the north of the Chernihiv region. The Ukrainian Air Defence Forces have issued instructions to hunt down our pilots along the state border. The air defence systems supplied from abroad will be used for this purpose, thus testing them in the Ukrainian theatre of military operations. Ukraine has decided to claim that this is the work of Russian air defence systems and self-defence, thus “whitewashing” its Western partners. But this is not the case,” Rybar believes.