Ukraine "shows off" fighter pilot's close-to-ground flying skills

On November 29, the Ukrainian Air Force posted a video recording a MiG-29 fighter jet flying at extremely low altitude, almost hugging the ground, before soaring into the sky.

Business Insider assessed this as a challenging maneuver for fighter pilots because the level of danger when controlling a fighter jet is so low. The Ukrainian Air Force did not explain why the MiG-29 made the low-to-the-ground flight.

Ukraine "shows off" fighter pilot's close-to-ground flying skills (Video: Ukrainian Air Force).

Low-altitude flying skills are considered essential for Ukrainian pilots in the war with Russia.

Facing an opponent with superior air force capabilities and a series of advanced defense systems, in many combat missions, Ukraine had no choice but to fly low, close to the ground to avoid being detected by enemy radar, minimizing the risk of being hit by surface-to-air missiles.

Guy Snodgrass, a former US Navy pilot, told Business Insider about low-flying tactics: "At very low altitudes, you can cover the terrain, making it difficult for radar or other systems to detect you. And if the radar detects you, the time it takes for them to react is much less than if you fly high."

Flying low has its advantages but is also a risky move. However, flying low like the MiG-29 fighter jet in the video above does not happen often because the level of danger is relatively high.

Flying low requires a certain level of skill, Snodgrass says. “Flying low is not necessarily harder, although it is more labor intensive and requires more concentration. A lot of time is spent focusing on terrain tracking, which reduces the time available for other tasks like radar scanning, radio communication or navigation,” he says.

At higher altitudes, pilots have more time to react and can more easily avoid accidentally crashing their aircraft into the ground.

“Flying at lower altitudes makes it harder for adversaries to detect and engage the aircraft, but it also potentially puts the aircraft at a higher risk of failure,” Snodgrass said.

The 21-month war between Russia and Ukraine has seen Moscow outperform Kiev in terms of air power. Former NATO commander James Jones said Ukraine’s counter-offensive was hampered in part by its inferior air power to Russia.

However, General James Hecker, head of US Air Forces in Europe, pointed out the reason why the Ukrainian Air Force can still fight against Russia's overwhelming force in terms of potential and equipment.

According to him, one of the possible reasons is that Russia has not effectively searched for and attacked Kiev's air force targets, making it impossible for Moscow to eliminate the entire Ukrainian fleet.

When the war broke out, Russia attempted to attack Ukrainian military targets, including air bases, in order to destroy Ukraine's military potential.

Ukraine received intelligence support from NATO before some of the Russian attacks took place.

Thanks to this, Ukraine was able to evacuate some aircraft to small airports and makeshift runways to avoid massive Russian attacks on Kiev's main Air Force base. When participating in combat, Ukrainian aircraft often fly from very low to low altitude to avoid being shot down by Russian air defense.

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