Russian air force incident highlights risks of friendly fire
The Russian air force nearly shot down its own Tu-134 aircraft during a suspected drone attack near the city of Tver, Russia, reports United24 Media.
Russian air defence systems may have fired upon their own aircraft during a suspected drone attack near the city of Tver. As reported by United24 Media, initial reports mentioned a Tu-160 aircraft, which was thought to be targeted by the Russians. However, analysts eventually determined it was a Tu-134. In videos available on social media, anti-aircraft guns are seen firing into the sky, and the silhouette of the aircraft confirms it is a Tu-134.
At the time of the incident, Russian social media was flooded with recordings and reports of drone activity in the region. It appears that, in the chaos, air defence units mistook the aircraft for a hostile drone or were firing at a drone flying nearby.
Russians fired at their own aircraft
According to video evidence, the aircraft was not hit and managed to avoid what is referred to as "friendly fire."
Contrary to earlier claims that the aircraft seen in the recording was civilian, open-source analysts, including the OSINT Evergreen Intel account on Twitter, identified it as a Tu-134AK (RA-65996) operated by the Russian Air Force. The aircraft took off from Migalovo base, a key military transport hub near Tver.
As reported, there was previously a massive drone attack directed toward the Migalovo base. This facility is located over 500 kilometres from the Ukrainian border. The 196th and 8th Transport Aviation Regiments of the Russian Air Force are stationed there, with large transport aircraft such as the Il-76MD and An-124.
Tu-134 aircraft
This aircraft, from the 1960s, has no military application. It does not have any features that would give it offensive capabilities. The Tu-134 cannot attack enemy units from the air and is not adapted for reconnaissance (like, for instance, the A-50 with its special radar).
The Tu-134 is equipped with two Soloviev D-30-II turbojet engines, which allow it to reach a maximum speed of 900 km/h. Its range is 2,000 kilometres. The aircraft has a wingspan of 29 metres, a length of 37 metres, and a height of 9 metres, and its weight exceeds 29,000 kilograms.
