A Soviet-era reconnaissance drone flying across Hungary from Ukraine has crashed near the Croatian capital of Zagreb, leaving a big hole in the ground, the Croatian government says. An explosion was heard near Lake Jarun in Zagreb at around 11pm on Thursday. Police said several vehicles had been damaged and two parachutes found.
The incident raises two questions:
1. Where did it come from ?
It seems that this was actually a Tupolev Tu-141 “Strizh” reconnaissance drone that must have severely malfunctioned and crossed over the entirety of Hungary or parts of neighboring countries and into Croatia from Ukraine. Flying direct from Ukraine’s border to Zagreb is nearly a 350-mile journey. It has been reported that Ukraine has been putting the high-speed, Soviet-era drones to work in recent days following Russia’s invasion of the country. Ukraine is the only known current operator of the Tu-141.
The Tu-141 is a fascinating piece of Soviet-era hardware that Ukraine has upgraded and made useful following the invasion of Crimea in 2014. More of a cruise missile than a traditional drone, the aircraft is rocket-launched from its trailer and flies a predetermined course at transonic speed, collecting various forms of intelligence, before recovering via parachute. It can then be reset and used again.
It’s also possible that Russia has pulled some of these out of storage to act as crude decoys in a ploy to stimulate Ukraine’s air defenses, but we have no proof of this at this time. This crashed example would have been beyond its stated range from the Russian border, although it could have reached Zagreb if it was launched from Belarus.
Markiyan Lubkivsky, the chief adviser to the Ukrainian defense minister, told Croatian newspaper Jutarnji List that the crashed device did not belong to Ukraine and that the Ukrainian foreign ministry would later issue a statement on the incident.
“This drone did not have Ukrainian markings,” he was quoted as saying. “There were red stars on it” — a symbol of the Russian military.
2. Why was it not intercepted by NATO ?
“NATO’s integrated air and missile defence tracked the flight path of an object which subsequently crashed in Zagreb,” a NATO official confirmed in a statement. Hungarian authorities are also investigating the incident as “the airspace of several NATO member states, including Hungary, was involved in the drone flight,” foreign minister Péter Szijjártó said on Facebook.
Zagreb mayor Tomislav Tomašević said it was crucial
“to determine who piloted the aircraft and where it came from and to ensure that it never happens again”.
He said parts of the flying object are scattered in several locations and that it is incredible that no one was hurt.
A statement issued by Croatia’s government said the “pilotless military aircraft” crashed seven minutes after entering Croatia’s airspace from neighbouring Hungary at a speed of 700 kilometres per hour and an altitude of 1,300 metres.
According to a Press Release by the Romanian Ministry of National Defence Information and Public Relations Directorate
The Romanian air surveillance system picked up the signal of a low surface aircraft, Thursday March 10, most probably an UAV, that crossed the national air space for a very short time, under three minutes.
The Romanian air surveillance system picked up the signal of a low surface aircraft, Thursday March 10, most probably an UAV, that crossed the national air space for a very short time, under three minutes.
The aircraft entered the Romanian air space at approximately 2323 HRS, coming from Ukraine, and left the national air space at approximately 2326 HRS, heading towards Hungary.
The very short time for which this aircraft had flown through national air space, the high speed and low altitude, as well as the terrain and weather conditions at the time, did not allow engaging of other procedural means in order to further identity the aircraft.
Croatian President Zoran Milanovic said that they were investigating how it was possible for an aircraft to spend more than an hour in the airspace of NATO member countries without being noticed.
Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković has reportedly already spoken to Viktor Orbán and NATO Ambassador Mario Nobilo.
Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said on Facebook that he had talked with his Croatian counterpart, Gordan Grlic Radman, about the case by phone.
According to data currently available, the airspace of several NATO member states, including Hungary’s, have been affected in the flight path of the drone, he said. “During the assessment, we will closely cooperate with the Croatian authorities and other NATO allies,” Szijjártó noted.
Sources: Various