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New danger to Europe-Middle East air traffic?

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Old Oct 7, 2015, 6:59 am
  #1  
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New danger to Europe-Middle East air traffic?

Russia claims that it is now firing rockets from ships on the Caspian Sea to targets in Syria. Doesn't this pose a danger to the flight corridors over Western Iran / North-East Iraq / South-East Turkey, frequented by Europe-Middle East traffic? Are we really opening up the possibility for a civil aircraft to be hit by a Russian rocket for the second time in recent years?
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Old Oct 7, 2015, 7:37 am
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This is how air traffic looks like at this moment. As you can see, there are no single planes over Syria and have not been over it for a while.



Question comes, if Russian activity is one time only or they are going to continue. If latter, I'd personally avoid flying on a route in the corridors you've mentioned
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Old Oct 7, 2015, 8:09 am
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Thanks, I'm well aware that Syria has been avoided for a while now. My point is, look at your screenshot, and count how many planes are flying in the corridor between Syria and the Caspian Sea. That is the corridor these rockets must be traversing (at what altitude, I don't know).
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Old Oct 7, 2015, 8:31 am
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New danger to Europe-Middle East air traffic?

Airplane engines and rocket engines are as different as day and night. Rockets launched from aircraft would operate on the same plane as an aircraft but the launching aircraft would likely be over Syria at the time of launch.

ICBMs are a different story. Depending on the type of rocket, the altitude and trajectory will vary slightly but still are unlikely to encounter the same plane as an aircraft. Simply put, rockets go up into suborbital regions - far above where aircraft operate - before dropping back to earth. Virgin Galactic's Spaceship Two might reach those altitudes - but then again, it is powered by a rocket not an aircraft engine.
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Old Oct 7, 2015, 8:41 am
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Originally Posted by invisible
This is how air traffic looks like at this moment. As you can see, there are no single planes over Syria and have not been over it for a while.



Question comes, if Russian activity is one time only or they are going to continue. If latter, I'd personally avoid flying on a route in the corridors you've mentioned
But there is plenty of traffic between Caspian sea and Syria..
Let's hope their systems can integrate ADS-B data. Otherwise Flightradar24 free android version now includes augmented reality view...
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Old Oct 7, 2015, 1:06 pm
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Someone is mighty brave right now!
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Old Oct 7, 2015, 1:21 pm
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Originally Posted by Rebelyell
Someone is mighty brave right now!
This airline slogan is "Fly beyond the limits". No false advertising for once... http://www.chamwings.com.
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Old Oct 7, 2015, 5:48 pm
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Originally Posted by FirstInFlight
ICBMs are a different story. Depending on the type of rocket, the altitude and trajectory will vary slightly but still are unlikely to encounter the same plane as an aircraft. Simply put, rockets go up into suborbital regions - far above where aircraft operate - before dropping back to earth.
They are not using ICBMs to go 900 miles. These are terrain-following Kalibr-NK cruise missles that fly about 50 meters above ground. Not very likely a plane will be flying at that altitude.
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Old Oct 8, 2015, 4:30 am
  #9  
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Originally Posted by CPRich
They are not using ICBMs to go 900 miles. These are terrain-following Kalibr-NK cruise missles that fly about 50 meters above ground. Not very likely a plane will be flying at that altitude.
How does this work? There is a mountain range rising to 4,409m between the Caspian and Syria.
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Old Oct 8, 2015, 4:42 am
  #10  
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Originally Posted by go_around
How does this work? There is a mountain range rising to 4,409m between the Caspian and Syria.
4,409m + 50m = 4,459m
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Old Oct 8, 2015, 9:23 am
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Originally Posted by nux
4,409m + 50m = 4,459m
Enlightening.
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Old Oct 8, 2015, 9:26 am
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Still not worth the risk!
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Old Oct 8, 2015, 9:44 am
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go_around, the other important bit from post #8 is 'terrain-following' - cruise missile senses (probably using radar) the ground to maintain height above it, also in some cases to confirm course.

Given the choice, when flying civair over the area I would prefer cruise missiles to ballistic missiles, which go up-tiddly-up before down-tiddly-down
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Old Oct 8, 2015, 11:50 am
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Originally Posted by go_around
How does this work? There is a mountain range rising to 4,409m between the Caspian and Syria.
Terrain-following radar

The system works by transmitting a radar signal towards the ground area in front of the aircraft. The radar returns can then be analysed to see how the terrain ahead varies, which can then be used by the aircraft's autopilot to maintain a reasonably constant height above the earth.

This technology is primarily used by military strike aircraft, to enable flight at very low altitudes (sometimes below 100 feet (30 metres)) and high speeds,
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Old Oct 8, 2015, 12:46 pm
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Looks like these ones are not very good at following terrain - http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-34479873
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