The good news is that the Fortes[1][2] can see well into the theater without actually flying over the battlefield, and even if something does happen to the aircraft the pilots are thousands of miles away

[1]: https://www.itamilradar.com/2022/03/02/forte-is-back/

[2]: https://www.reddit.com/r/NonCredibleDefense/comments/szw9xm/...

I see your point.

Maybe some unmanned SR-71 successor would be better, especially if it could suborbitally pass over Ukraine above the Karman line. But even that might be poking the bear.

The Space Shuttle was originally designed partially as a manned SR-71 successor. It had the capability to launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base into a polar orbit, make a single reconnaissance pass over the USSR, and then immediately land to deliver the imagery. But it was never actually used in that mode.

Yes, but the STS could not overfly any areas outside a very specific, narrow path.

And the flight did not have to be recon. Payload bay doors could be opened very shortly after ET sep.

Why not? Russia ain't gonna do shit but whine and make empty threats.

The stakes of the typical "fuck around and find out" nonsense are out of bounds here, really.

It doesn't matter how incapable Russia is at completing their inhumane mission in Ukraine, they are very much capable of launching a number of unstoppable ICBMs with enough nuclear warheads carried along the ride to make every last cockroach in the deep gutters of the most remote and forgotten town in Montana squeal in agony.

This is a silly take. They're not going to start a nuclear war, and especially for something as small as NATO pilots over Ukraine.

I swear, everyone's wits leave them when the Russians make nuclear threats. This is standard bully behavior, stop caving to it every time.

Russia isn't going to start a nuclear war for a NATO flight over Ukraine. But they will try to shoot it down, and might succeed. At that point NATO might retaliate against air defense sites, and then the conflict escalates.

Even direct fighting between NATO forces and Russia isn't likely to escalate to a nuclear exchange. It's unlikely that NATO would invade or occupy (actual, not recently annexed) Russian territory, so it poses little existential risk to Russia or her government.

The nukes will be a serious issue when the fall of Russia is imminent.