Ukrainian media have released footage showing an F-16 fighter jet shooting down a Russian Geran strike drone. The video captures the American-made jet engaging the slow-moving UAV.

Fearing a warhead detonation that could damage the aircraft — incidents that have already led to crashes of Ukrainian fighters — the F-16 pilot avoided using the onboard cannon at close range. Instead, he launched an AIM-9 air-to-air guided missile, a weapon originally designed to target enemy fighters.

For a drone like the Geran, escaping such a missile is impossible, and the UAV was destroyed. The visibly excited pilot celebrated the «kill» by performing aerobatic maneuvers in the sky.

Experts, however, have called the victory questionable. They note that a Geran costs about $20,000, while a single AIM-9 missile is worth over $100,000. On top of that, the flight hour of an F-16 is roughly $7,000 more expensive than the price of the drone itself.

As a result, Ukraine’s air force effectively spent around $127,000 to destroy a $20,000 target. Analysts remark that, in a sense, it was the cheap loitering munition that «shot down» an expensive American missile — not the other way around.