A low-flying aircraft shares airspace with weapons aimed elsewhere: cruise missiles en route to a different target, drone salvos flying the same altitude band, and intercept debris falling through every flight level.
| Threat | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Cruise missiles | Fly terrain-following at ~50–100 m — exactly low-level flight altitude |
| Ballistic debris | Intercept debris fields fall through every flight level |
| Drone salvos | Mass waves temporarily occupy the entire altitude band |
Note
Deconfliction — distinguishing friend, foe and neutral objects in busy airspace during a salvo — is itself a risk factor. The loss of the first Ukrainian F-16 during a mass attack wave was attributed to likely friendly fire, not direct enemy action.
The ICAO/EASA conflict-zone framework (reference card) therefore explicitly states that the risk of misidentification and indirect fire is generally greater than that of deliberate engagement. See also Chapter 8.2.