Frag Out! Magazine
Issue link: https://fragout.uberflip.com/i/642978
down a RF-4 Phantom II reconnaissance aircraft by the Syrians in June 2012. The pilot performed a training and operational flight along a border of both countries. The first opportunity to revenge was 16th September 2013 when an air patrol consisting of two Lockheed Martin F-16 Fighting Falcon multi-role fighters, was directed to intercept Syrian helicopters operating in the vicinity of the Turkish border. After crossing the border, one of the Syrian Air Force Mi-17 Hip helicopters was shot down by the AIM-9X Sidewinder air- to-air missile. The wreckage of the helicopter fell on the Syrian side. The air forces of these two countries clashed again over Hatay Province on 23rd March 2014 – this time, the prey for F-16s were MiG-23 fighters. One of them withdrew before violating Turkish airspace, but the second one was shot down withe the AIM-120 AMRAAM air-to-air missile. In 2015 a list of the air victories was extended. On 16th May 2015 the Iranian-made Mohajer 4 UAV, operated by the Syrian State Forces become a target for the F-16. On 16th October the Russian Orlan-10 UAV was shot down. In the all above mentioned cases a reason of the shot downs was violating airspace over Hatay Province, which borders with Syria – while conducting combat flights in the neighborhood of the border, due to its natural topography, the Syrian aircraft (and now the Russian ones, too) deliberately violate Turkish airspace in order to "shorten" their way or enter a combat flight and drop a combat load on the insurgent positions. The above facts were also the events of November, when a Russian Su-24M was shot down by Turkish F-16 Fighting Falcon. Certainly, shooting down was supposed to be a signal for Moscow, to restrict operations in the frontier zone where the Syrian authorities fight with the insurgents supported by the Turkey. Will there be the next fight in the air? We cannot exclude this while taking into account a pace of the combat operations of the Russian aviation, as well as a willingness to remove the present Syrian state authorities by the international community. www.fragoutmag.com