[imagesource:tennebaums/wikimediacommons]

The Ukrainian Air Force just shared a video of one of their MiG-29 fighter jets making an incredibly low airfield pass in flight.

The way the jet hugs the ground before soaring back up into the sky is a remarkable show of aviation abilities.

BusinessInsider reported that the footage was posted Thursday by the Air Force, but it’s unclear when or where it was filmed, and it was not said why the jet was flying this way.

However, the video does come at a time when Ukrainian pilots are generally having to fly low, close to the earth’s contours, to avoid Russian radar detection, which is likely to be followed by surface-to-air missiles.

Therefore, flying that close to the ground has its perks, but it is still rather risky.

Low altitude on MiG-29 pic.twitter.com/RurqJP3dGI

— Ukrainian Air Force (@KpsZSU) November 29, 2023

Neither Russia nor Ukraine has managed to achieve air superiority in the ongoing war as both sides pose a risk to each other with surface-to-air missiles, from the Russian S-300s and S-400s to Ukraine’s mix of Soviet and Western systems.

Still, Russia and Ukraine are putting aircraft in the air even though a different kind of flying at a safe removal from the front is required.

“At very low altitudes you can terrain mask, making it difficult for radars or other systems to detect you,” Guy Snodgrass, a former US naval aviator and TOPGUN instructor, told Business Insider about low flying in general. And, “if a system does detect you, the window to launch will be much narrower than at higher altitudes.”

Flying low isn’t necessarily more difficult, but it does require certain skills, according to Snodgrass.

“Flying lower isn’t necessarily harder, though it is more task intensive and requires more concentration. A majority of time is spent focusing on terrain avoidance, which reduces time available to perform higher order tasks like scanning radar, talking on the radio, or to navigate,” he said.

Choosing to fly low or high is a trade-off. While at higher altitudes, pilots have more time to react and can more easily avoid unintentionally slamming their planes into the earth, flying at lower altitudes makes it harder for the enemy to detect and engage the aircraft. It also potentially puts the plane at greater risk of a mishap.

“We always say, ‘speed is life… altitude is life insurance,” Snodgrass added.

The Ukraine Air Force has been practising their low-flying based on previous videos:

A Ukrainian Su-25 (48 Blue) from the 299th Tactical Aviation Brigade makes a low level pass near the front. pic.twitter.com/tukjyYN4Jc

— OSINTtechnical (@Osinttechnical) August 26, 2023

With choppers, too:

Low level Ukrainian Mi-8/Mi-24P Hind gunship operations. pic.twitter.com/EL6uotqVw8

— OSINTtechnical (@Osinttechnical) June 28, 2023

It doesn’t get much lower than the video of the MiG, though.

[source:businessinsider]