Stork breaks away from approaching drone in an insane agile split-s

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FishPropulsionLab@reddit

I’ve been a drone hobbyist for over 15 years. (And a Part 107 holder for 8.)

Shame on this dude for chasing after wildlife.

But here’s some experience I’ve collected in flying various RC airplanes and ‘copters:

if there’s a hawk or other bird of prey in the area, land immediately. They’ll attack out of curiosity or territorialism, and you don’t want to hurt the bird or lose your drone.
if there are swifts around, they’ll divebomb your drone (or plane) over and over. I’ve never had one make contact, but they’re determined!
Turkey vultures / buzzards are completely unbothered. They won’t chase an aircraft, and they really don’t care if there’s an aircraft in their space. I’ve had experiences where I’ve circled around in a group with them for minutes at a time and they didn’t care one whit about the presence or the noise.

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This is animal cruelty. Please DO NOT approach birds in flight, they may take evasive maneuvers while far from home or low on energy and be unable to regain sufficient altitude to make it to safety, or they may attempt to defend from what they perceive to be an attack and being horrifically injured by the propellers.

If I see ANYONE chasing birds with drones I will destroy the drone and track you down. You won't be able to operate a goddamn paper airplane by the time every relevant agency on the fucking planet is done taking it out of your ASS.

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LupineChemist@reddit

You know, I think these Russian chaps might not be the nicest fellows.

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aviation-ModTeam@reddit

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masteroffdesaster@reddit

please do so, you might help Ukraine win the war

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Specialist-6343@reddit

Will the consequences ever be the same?

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Electrical-Award-825@reddit

What is the drone pilot doing though? As if he/she on purpose is targeting to hit the stork or something.
Great dodge from the stork!

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penelopiecruise@reddit

Aerial abortion

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deleted_by_reddit@reddit

[removed]

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BellJar_Blues@reddit

Is this a joke ? I get it but want to make sure it’s not real

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Lopkop@reddit

not at all a joke, states with legalized abortion are now using drones to take out the baby-carrying storks

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VizslaFellaRIB@reddit

Yes it is a russian drone, the russian soldier is probably a sadist fuck.

Fuck russia

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oogaboogaman_3@reddit

Russian kamikaze drone, mighta thought the bird was a drone, could also be the russians being russians and trying to kill the stork, they are symbolic in ukraine.

[-]

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[-]

deleted_by_reddit@reddit

[removed]

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Mr-Doubtful@reddit

Or using it as training.

Hell they train on humans in Kherson.

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candycane7@reddit

Probably thought it was an actual drone

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BrewCityChaserV2@reddit

Whoever is operating the POV drone probably needs to review some footage of actual live birds in flight before going out on missions to explode shit from afar.

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Aesma42@reddit

On the other hand, programming drones to move like birds might be a good idea.

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VizslaFellaRIB@reddit

I've seen russian soldiers go out of their way to kill a hedghog with a butterfly mine.

I doubt he thought it was a drone. Just a sadist fuck

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aeternus_hypertrophy@reddit

In the longer video the drone refocuses on the stork and seems to take chase again. Very odd behaviour without context

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QuarterlyTurtle@reddit

I’m pretty sure most of these interceptor drones are becoming fully or semi automated. It would be too wasteful to have a person manning every single drone manually the entire time, when you just need a system that tracks whatever’s moving on the screen and looks like a drone. So this might just be a learning algorithm targeting what looks close enough to drone.

I know Ukraine uses AI in long range strike drones, so even if the drone gets jammed and the human operator stops controlling it, it can autonomously still know where it is based off visual landmarks and fly itself into a target it can recognize, like a plane on a military base.

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BellJar_Blues@reddit

So stressful to the birds and wildlife and humans

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Keiepse@reddit

Example #847472829394757 of what a pointless, awful, destructive war this is.

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An_Average_Andy@reddit

Realistically, the drone pilot at that point was probably aiming to hit the stork. Most interceptors are one way only and couldn't find a drone to bring down so he decided to go after the bird.

This is probably southern Ukraine and the Russian drone unit down there has a reputation for less than ideal behavior, especially around Kherson.

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VizslaFellaRIB@reddit

Every russian unit has a reputation for less then ideal behavior.

I have seen 1000's upon 1000's of video's of russian warcrimes

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Aunon@reddit

As if he/she on purpose is targeting to hit the stork or something.

Yes, there are already videos of Russian drones targeting and hitting flying birds

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aelsi@reddit

this is extremely irresponsible, please do not promote flying of drones near wildlife

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WangDoodleTrifecta@reddit

Follow this!!!

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VizslaFellaRIB@reddit

This is a russian drone and it tried to attack a stork above Ukraine.

We don't hate russia enough

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Adviderisj@reddit

Not defending Russia, but until close, it looks like it could be a drone. Ukraine would do the exact same thing

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Nice_Classroom_6459@reddit

Given that Russia precipitated the conflict voluntarily by invading Ukraine, it is definitely not the "exact same thing." Anything Ukraine does to defend itself is inherently more legitimate than anything Russia does to destroy Ukraine.

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Adviderisj@reddit

I absolutely agree. But in the event that a Ukrainian drone operator sees something gliding, they will similarly inspect up close

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Nice_Classroom_6459@reddit

The difference is the Ukrainian drone operator is in Ukraine and has the right to do anything they want there. The Russian drone operator is in a foreign country, in violation of international and domestic law.

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Adviderisj@reddit

I mean, Russia does operate drones in Russia (i have no idea if this video was recorded in Russia or Ukraine) and Ukraine also operates drones in Russia.

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Nice_Classroom_6459@reddit

Which is Ukraine's prerogative. You don't get to break into someone's house and then get upset when they shoot out your tires.

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Adviderisj@reddit

Agreed. My point is that Ukraine would do the same thing to the same bird, and we shouldn't go "Russia is trying to kill birds with drones' when it doesn't look like that was the goal - Russia doesnt have resources to try to murder birds, they're losing BADLY. Im not supporting Russia at all, I just think it's ridiculous to make up a narrative about something like this when they are committing real atrocities daily

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FerLucy666@reddit

Except it is already confirmed from a russian unit, originated in a russian telegram.
The stork is the national bird of Ukraine. That's why idiot vatniks attack the bird.

You are 100% defending russia here and talking out of your ass.

We actually follow the war and know what we talk about so please go defend russia against ppl who don't know what they are talking about.

have a wonderful day vatnik

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drunk_fingolian@reddit

He had a logical statement and here you are with an emotional attack.

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FerLucy666@reddit

it's a confirmed russian drone... i don't have patience for idiots who can't look up basic stuff.

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FerLucy666@reddit

also show me even 1 video of Ukrainian soldiers abusing animals.

But i can show you video's of russians killing

- horses

- cattle

- pets

- a hedgehog with a mine attached to it

russians do this all the fucking time. They are in Ukraine to kill. And they don't care if they kill soldiers, civillians children or animals.

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drunk_fingolian@reddit

How dumb are you? You're not even close to understanding the point that was made in the original comment you replied to.

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drunk_fingolian@reddit

I never said it wasn't, I'm defending u/Adviderisj point, feel free to read it if you're able to.

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DuelJ@reddit

There's plenty of reasons to hate Russia's actions, such as sending dumb cruise missles into cities targets as though they want to revive the V1 rocket terror campaign.

But the seagull does look close enough to a owad to warrant an investigation like this.

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MaddingtonBear@reddit

Bird 1 performs a split S?

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Puzzled-Formal-7957@reddit

Bird aint screwing around... they know when the jig is up and it is time to bug out.

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tuhtuhtuhtrevor@reddit

Don't reward this lost. It will just encourage more idiots with drones to stalk birds.

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hello-amigos@reddit

This is why you don’t fly UNDER birds if possible. They always dive down when evading.

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CattleDogCurmudgeon@reddit

TIL birds can do complex evasive maneuvers. Darwin would be proud.

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Own_Reaction9442@reddit

I've watched some interesting aerial fights between ospreys and crows. One ended with the osprey breaking into a steep dive.

I used to fly gliders and we were advised to avoid flying under birds while thermal soaring, because when startled they almost always dive. A fellow pilot once told me a bald eagle tried to challenge him for dominance by flashing its talons at him.

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italicised@reddit

I’m lucky to work very close to an osprey nest. When bald eagles come by, the ospreys gain height and dive them. Every time, the eagles spin, “deflecting” the osprey with their talons. It’s so cool - and the osprey usually “wins” anyway because the eagles will fuck off shortly after. Ravens also do little spins while they’re flying and calling for fun!

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ApexAurajin@reddit

It's fascinating to me that a bird might look at an aircraft and think "I can take him."

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katsudon-bori@reddit

I used to live near a landing pattern at DFW. I had a dog that would look at the aircraft as if he jumped high enough, he could grab one

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jubuttib@reddit

God forbid a good boi have aspirations...

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tmantran@reddit

Went to a friend’s to see the local air show because their house is right under the Blue Angels’ flight path when they’re reforming. Our little Pomeranian had a blast chasing off fighter jets.

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flash69696969@reddit

Bird - too close for missiles, switching to guns

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jubuttib@reddit

Was thinking more "too close for guns, switching to beak"

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SocOfRel@reddit

Pilot- Too close for guns, switching to birds.

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Own_Reaction9442@reddit

Eagles are apex predators. Nothing in their evolutionary experience taught them that there are things bigger and meaner than they are.

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ApexAurajin@reddit

They better evolve quick, then

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sergius64@reddit

I was installing roof rack crossbars on my car yesterday - bird shit flew past my ear and landed inches from my hand. They're devious.

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-smartcasual-@reddit

Birds of prey are trained to take down drones at high-security sites.

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2wicky@reddit

in the same realm as crash two planes with one stone kind of logic

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FenPhen@reddit

"Communicating. Keeping up foreign relations. I was, you know, giving him the bird."

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wspaley@reddit

‘Maverick … Viper is on your 6 !?’

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madd74@reddit

Of course they can, because /r/BirdsArentReal

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PlaneShenaniganz@reddit

They try the same maneuver when trying to escape my airplane on final approach, and unfortunately it never goes well for them :(

Interestingly, all the birds take a similar evasive action. They try to climb above us, then turn inverted and try to dive beneath us. But by that point, it’s too late. Seagull Smoothie

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CattleDogCurmudgeon@reddit

I have after-pics for this.

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HogmanDaIntrudr@reddit

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BigChiefTabo@reddit

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nilecrane@reddit

Ravens do barrel rolls for funsies

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NewUser769283@reddit

I've seen ravens chase away sea eagles..... And then falcons chase away the ravens.

Nature is simply fantastic.

Spent a lot of time just lying on my back watching nature in Greenland.

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Armoredpolrbear@reddit

Where in Greenland? I’m itching to go

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TransposableElements@reddit

who would win?

An ace dogfighting pilot having hopped (ala hoppers) into a peregrine falcon with stats equivalent to real falcons, melee steel claws only, assume the human pilot can fly the body as well as an actual falcon

vs

A miniaturize falcon sized F16 falcon with another ace pilot in it, top speed is limited/equalized to the peregrine falcon, no missiles, guns only.

Can the hopper peregrine falcon outmaneuver the mini F16 guns and go in for a melee kill?

If the F16 gun is too much give the hopper falcon a fixed gun as well

what about a miniaturize F22 with the 2D thrust vectoring, does it stand a chance?

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Drunkenaviator@reddit

I want some of whatever you took. Lol

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TransposableElements@reddit

Inspired partly by FFR-41MR Mave from Yukikaze

Imagine modern jet fighters with the mechanical wings of a bird, the maneuverability offered would be so cool

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Legitimate_Humsn@reddit

Hawk and eagle mating rituals are actually insane. If they can't disengage their talons from their partner at precisely the right moment of the suicide-pact-corkscrew-plunge they can't get laid. Falcons make mid-air refueling exciting. And knowing ravens, I'm sure every "ritual" is bizarrely unique.

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Carson-Doyle886@reddit

They literally had millions of years of beta testing to perfect their dogfighting airframes. we basically just started copying their homework like 100 years ago dude.

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throwaway60221407e23@reddit

TIL fish are good at swimming.

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ToeSniffer245@reddit

That is the cleanest split-S I've ever seen in my life

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evthrowawayverysad@reddit

Pretty sure it even maintained the orientation of it's head while the body flipped in order to keep an eye on the drone... Now THAT'S airmanship.

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Bluemikami@reddit

Aviate, navigate, communicate

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webfootedwombat@reddit

Who would have thought a bird could do that.

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neverbadnews@reddit

No doubt, nature is f-ing lit!

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YebelTheRebel@reddit

That’s the new Stork-22

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Face88888888@reddit

Gutsiest move I ever saw, Mav.

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iJeepThereforeiAM@reddit

https://youtu.be/f5MOgcpUdQI

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Js987@reddit

Well, they have been flying most of their life…

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Karen-Kelly598@reddit

The energy retention through the bottom half of the loop was absolutely flawless tbh. lockheed martin engineers are frantically taking notes right now.

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Kaffe-Mumriken@reddit

LM are asking subcontractors to request their engineers to take notes*

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Throwaway1098590@reddit

*🦨 Skunkworks: Engineers (pikachu face)

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Hi_Trans_Im_Dad@reddit

Should have contracted Storkworks.

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FreefallGeek@reddit

Clearly we need to build planes with wings that articulate during maneuver.

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Thaster97@reddit

"Bandit! Six o'clock high"

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Accomplished-One7476@reddit

geese can do it also

https://youtube.com/shorts/9W9YQPHR7JU?si=NhthmjZS_9ekwzFg

https://youtube.com/shorts/wJAi6c1h6_s?si=gHAowzktcJStoxdj

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maxehaxe@reddit

Goose can't however

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Blockhead47@reddit

“Talk to me Goose!”

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Substantial-Cat0910@reddit

*slow clap*

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MrPigeon70@reddit

Oh, good. My slow clap processor made it into this thing. So we have that.

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BellJar_Blues@reddit

Why do they do that ?

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Accomplished-One7476@reddit

here you go.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whiffling

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fresh_like_Oprah@reddit

To avoid AA

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BellJar_Blues@reddit

Thank you

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Aromatic-Plastic-819@reddit

This is legendary video.

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High_AspectRatio@reddit

I didn’t know storks were chill like that

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olddoglearnsnewtrick@reddit

Cool but do not harass animals please

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arivas26@reddit

I’m pretty sure it’s not a real bird but a drone with stuff to make it look like a bird

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CatPicturesPlease@reddit

I agree although in this case I think they thought it was an enemy drone (this is from Ukraine)

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zeekayz@reddit

It's a Russian drone and Russian drone operators do kill animals for fun all the time (along with civilians). Plenty of footage of them doing it and laughing it off in Russian telegram channels (and some in the pro Russia subreddits here).

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Guy_LeDouche33@reddit

Call a spade a spade ukranians are doing the exact same thing. This pov could be from either side

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BasedMaduro@reddit

Please give me a video of a Ukrainian drone operator intentionally targetting civilians and animals on the ground.

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SecondOfCicero@reddit

They know exactly what it is.

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Serious-Kangaroo-320@reddit

because you were there!

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Odd_Duty520@reddit

(this is from Ukraine)

This is footage from a Russian drone operator in Ukraine.

I hope you can edit this as people who aren't familiar with English or the context may think that it's the Ukrainians who are doing this

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Neradijacija@reddit

"War is cool, but pls no animal hurt."

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fervetopus@reddit

That's just the drone operator of the Bird Drone realizing his surveillance operation is about to be exposed.

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Velaurius@reddit

r/BirdsArentReal

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arivas26@reddit

I mean, that bird definitely isn’t

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SkywolfNINE@reddit

What kinda G load does a birds anatomy support?

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TRUMPARUSKI@reddit

Goose got reincarnated

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Martha_Fockers@reddit

We’ve been tryna replicate the falcons and hawks we forgot the storks

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CaptainConfusedALot@reddit

It's not the plane. It's the pilot.

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bonzothebonanza@reddit

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A_randomboi22@reddit

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KAMEKAZE_VIKINGS@reddit

Brother if this is the most surface level ball knowledge on the level of "a ball is round"

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Its-Finch@reddit

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HLSparta@reddit

In this case it's both at once.

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TheGacAttack@reddit

There's absolutely NO WAY that they fit the CIA pilot inside that bird.

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Admirable_Basket381@reddit

“Holy shit! What the fuck was that?!”

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Turbulent_Crow7164@reddit

Damn you now I have to go rewatch that scene

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BabyLegsDeadpool@reddit

EXACTLY!

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H3NDOAU@reddit

Okay but why is there a drone even chasing a bird? what is the reason for that?

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Lawdoc1@reddit

Best I can tell from the rest of the comments here is that until the drone gets very close for detailed ID, the operator cannot tell whether it is another drone or a bird.

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KeikoToo@reddit

We really gotta program those drones to give storks a wide berth. We got a big enough problem with population growth without drones interfering with deliveries.

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forjulietonly_69@reddit

Idiot pilot

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Lumpy_Trainer8390@reddit

Frog in his headset do a barrel roll

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CarminSanDiego@reddit

I’ve seen them dodge me while I was on 200kts final approach

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No_Size9475@reddit

Why the fuck is the drone approaching a flying wild bird?

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SoloSquirrel@reddit

How about we don't intentionally approach wildlife with our drones? Is that really too much to ask?

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zeekayz@reddit

It's Russian footage. They kill wildlife and civilians for fun.

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glydy@reddit

It's over Ukraine, fair mistake

Could've been picked up by radar and investigated? Or just spotted on the low res camera

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beachlufe@reddit

Starfox vibes

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CDrocks87@reddit

The baby it’s delivering is gonna be pretty dizzy

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G0PACKGO@reddit

I bet he was singing danger zone

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Rtrdinvestor@reddit

Que Danger Zone

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Valuable-Paramedic93@reddit

What do u think the G forces on that could be ?

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HYThrowaway1980@reddit

Mods taking this one down in 3…2…1…

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Vau8@reddit (OP)

Not anymore I asume, that early bird got big in notime.

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Original-Fig4214@reddit

Show off!

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wiedziu@reddit

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throawayTipkovnica@reddit

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the_real_hugepanic@reddit

My first idea:

Wooow, the Russians now pint their ISR drones like birds ....

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GhostofAyabe@reddit

It's insanely depraved that they are trying to kill them, just degenerate scum

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Rynard@reddit

Birds will always dive away from a collision. I have see birds from the front twice during my flight training both times it's been a sort of half spiral of movement and then gone in a fraction of a second. So you should always climb to avoid a head-on with a bird. You only get a fraction of a second notice mind.

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Notchersfireroad@reddit

You were in a negative 4 G dive with a drone? (Cough Bullshit)

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MrdnBrd19@reddit

That's how they go full airbrake. I used to fly my RC planes in FPV near this dump that had a ton of crows and they would get interested and come fly with me. They would often come in from above and end up in front of me then pull that flip maneuver to slow down and get beside me to check out the plane better.

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