Originally Posted by Excargodog

Estonia is roughly 235 by 150 miles. At Mach 2.8 a MiG 31 will traverse it in what? About 4 minutes widthwise? Maybe 7 minutes lengthwise. Not saying it can’t be done, and I honestly have no idea of the ballistic coefficient of scattering MiG parts, just pointing out it’s easier to say than to do. And the possibility of it going FUBAR is a real one. Collateral damage on the ground - if only from raining MiG parts, F-22 accidentally going into Russia, We going to go with BVR shots? Heck, people make mistakes even with plenty of time to work the problem and what they believe to be visual ID:
https://www.gao.gov/assets/osi-98-4.pdf

So, not saying the oversights can be or should be ignored, just saying that it’s best to get wide buy-in of whatever the plan is and really define the ROE. Otherwise, the guys out on the tip of the spear are putting their careers as well as their lives on the line if a bad outcome happens. And if you make this a multinational plan- the aircraft intercepting them were Italian F-35s) it is almost guaranteed to be a goat rope. I’ve done enough multinational exercises at Red Flag and other areas to know that. But since this incursion was overwater, maybe a missile frigate could discourage repeats.