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April 26, 2008 12:38 PM PDT
Mig downs drone
UAVs may have been stealing the publicity limelight of late from traditional war birds, but there's little doubt of who comes out on top in a dogfight as seen in this video of a purported Russian MIG-29 drilling a Georgian drone.
Georgia's air force provided Reuters with video footage it said was recorded and transmitted by the UAV's on-board camera before it was shot down.
The video opens on a lovely spring day over what could be the Black Sea, then focuses in on a swooping jet aircraft. The jet, with no visible identification markings, fires a missile that comes up on the drone in a languid uppercut, before the screen goes to static.
"On April 20 a Russian Mig-29 fighter jet shot down an unarmed, unmanned air vehicle which was performing basic reconnaissance over Georgian territory," Georgian air force Colonel David Nairashvili told Reuters. "It's absolutely illegal for a Russian Mig-29 to be there."
Russia has denied involvement.
Mark Rutherford is a West Coast-based freelance writer. He is a member of the CNET Blog Network, and is not an employee of CNET. Email him at markr@milapp.com. Disclosure.
