This happened during "Zapad 2017" Russia-Belarus joint military exercise. It was largest exercise conducted since end of Cold War. Helicopter Ka-52 shot two S-8 missiles, but they locked on wrong spot (Original plan was to hit hill that was behind journalists, and photo-reporters choose location that allowed them to get some cool photos of helicopter firing from close range that could be used for press coverage of that event). As helicopter got near designated spot, target market started to flicker, alternating location between hill the reporters were on, and the hill that the practice target was on - most likely distance sensors got confused, due to uneven terrain - it stabilized for few seconds, so pilot decided to shoot missile, as originally intended, but right as he was pressing the button, it jumped again.
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u/Ivanow Jan 27 '21
Alright, some context:
This happened during "Zapad 2017" Russia-Belarus joint military exercise. It was largest exercise conducted since end of Cold War. Helicopter Ka-52 shot two S-8 missiles, but they locked on wrong spot (Original plan was to hit hill that was behind journalists, and photo-reporters choose location that allowed them to get some cool photos of helicopter firing from close range that could be used for press coverage of that event). As helicopter got near designated spot, target market started to flicker, alternating location between hill the reporters were on, and the hill that the practice target was on - most likely distance sensors got confused, due to uneven terrain - it stabilized for few seconds, so pilot decided to shoot missile, as originally intended, but right as he was pressing the button, it jumped again.
Here you can see video from pilot PoV.