Rob Lee Profile picture
Senior Fellow @FPRI. Previously @USMC, @ColumbiaSIPA, @CentreAST. Focused on Russian defense policy.

Sep 22, 2020, 8 tweets

The Western Military District announced that a Russian Su-30 (presumably Su-30SM) fighter crashed in Tver today. Both crewmembers ejected safely.
militarynews.ru/story.asp?rid=…

The военный осведомитель channel is saying that the Su-30SM that crashed today was actually shot down by a Su-35S fighter that accidentally shot the fighter with its cannon. 2/
t.me/milinfolive/63…

The Su-35S fighter had its missiles removed, but someone forgot to unload its cannon's ammunition as well before conducting simulated dog fighting. 3/

Photo from the search for the Su-30’s crash location. An eyewitness said she saw 3 aircraft in the sky, and that one began to smoke before its crew ejected. 4/
t.me/Lshot/21059

Footage of the Su-30 fighter’s crash site. 5/
t.me/Lshot/21106

Photos from the crash site. It seems the Su-30 hit the ground at a high angle. 6/
t.me/Lshot/21101

BMPD has more information about the crashed Su-30 fighter. It is reportedly a Su-30M2 fighter from the 3rd Composite Aviation Regiment (red 60 RF-95869) built in 2014 shot down by a Su-35S (red 22) built in 2019 from the 790th Fighter Aviation Regiment. 7/
bmpd.livejournal.com/4147236.html

Both TASS and Kommersant are reporting that the Su-30M2 was accidently shot down, so I feel confident that this is what occurred. Kommersant says the Su-35S' GSh-30-1 30mm cannon struck the Su-30M2, forcing the crew to eject. 8/
tass.ru/proisshestviya…
kommersant.ru/doc/4502438

Share this Scrolly Tale with your friends.

A Scrolly Tale is a new way to read Twitter threads with a more visually immersive experience.
Discover more beautiful Scrolly Tales like this.

Keep scrolling