“She Slept Peacefully — Until the Captain Screamed: ‘Any Fighter Pilots on Board?!’”

Her own aircraft would climb slightly. Another was told to offset its heading and maintain speed. She was creating vertical and lateral separation, forcing the incoming SU-35 pilots to divide their attention across multiple targets moving in different ways.

The tactic would not make the airliners untouchable. Commercial aircraft were slow, heavy, and continue reading …