Steve Davies Posted June 22, 2012 Share Posted June 22, 2012 (edited) From the Beeb: Turkish warplane 'missing' near Syrian border The Turkish military said it lost radio contact with the F-4 while it was flying over Hata Turkey's government has called an emergency security meeting amid reports that one of its fighter jets was shot down by Syrian security forces. The Turkish military lost contact with an F-4 Phantom over the Mediterranean Sea, south-west of Hatay province. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has told a news conference there is still no confirmation of what brought the jet down, nor of the fate of its two crew. He was earlier quoted as saying: "The other side have expressed regret". Relations between Turkey and Syria, once close allies, have deteriorated sharply since the uprising against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad began in March 2011. 'Syrian waters' The Turkish military said it lost radio contact with the F-4 at 1158 (0858 GMT) on Friday while it was flying over Hatay, about 90 minutes after it took off from Erhac airbase in the province of Malatya, to the north-west. The private news channel, NTV, later cited unnamed military sources as saying that the plane had crashed off Hatay's Mediterranean coast, in Syrian territorial waters, but that there had been no border violation. The Syrian coast guard was helping the Turkish coast guard, navy and air force search for the two crew members and the plane, NTV reported. Witnesses in the Syrian coastal city of Latakia meanwhile told BBC Arabic that Syrian air defences had shot down an unidentified aircraft near the town of Ras al-Basit. Lebanon's al-Manar television channel - controlled by Lebanon's Shia Hezbollah movement, an ally of the Syrian government - also reported that Syrian security sources had said that "Syrian air defences shot down a Turkish warplane and hit another in Syrian airspace". There was no immediate confirmation from Turkish officials, but later it was announced that Mr Erdogan would be holding an emergency meeting to discuss the incident with his interior, defence and foreign ministers and the Chief of the General Staff, Gen Necdet Ozel. Turkish officials are being button-lipped about what brought the plane down, and an exhausted-looking prime minister backed off earlier comments suggesting that Syria had already apologised for shooting the aircraft down. Lebanese media are much surer. They say Syrian sources have told them they shot down one, possibly two, Turkish aircraft. Edited June 22, 2012 by Steve Davies Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Day Man Posted June 22, 2012 Share Posted June 22, 2012 keep your bags packed... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuperWSO Posted June 22, 2012 Share Posted June 22, 2012 I bet SecState is calling Turkey right now to let them know they don't have a hair on their ass if they don't thump that SAM site. If that doesn't do it, she may escalate to the double dog dare. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crosswind Posted June 22, 2012 Share Posted June 22, 2012 Well, the next 24 hours should be pretty interesting . . . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 23, 2012 Share Posted June 23, 2012 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prosuper Posted June 23, 2012 Share Posted June 23, 2012 You think they the Syrians might have thought it was one of their own trying to defect to Turkey? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Davies Posted June 23, 2012 Author Share Posted June 23, 2012 Syria now reporting that the F-4 was downed 0.6 miles from their coastline. Turkey is not so far contesting that... BBC linky. You think they the Syrians might have thought it was one of their own trying to defect to Turkey? It was going in the wrong direction to defect - came in from the west. Syria said it was very low and fast. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Davies Posted June 23, 2012 Author Share Posted June 23, 2012 Turkey is now admitting the incursion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hacker Posted June 23, 2012 Share Posted June 23, 2012 I guess it shows Syria, after years of incursions from other countries' aircraft (hmmm, who could that be?) in which they were either too slow to respond, or scared to respond, have actually gotten their act together enough that they could shoot down an unaware Phantom. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 23, 2012 Share Posted June 23, 2012 This one would be fun. Just sayin. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BQZip01 Posted June 23, 2012 Share Posted June 23, 2012 I guess it shows Syria, after years of incursions from other countries' aircraft (hmmm, who could that be?) in which they were either too slow to respond, or scared to respond, have actually gotten their act together enough that they could shoot down an unaware Phantom. They are saying it was shot down by AAA. If it was optically guided, then he wouldn't really have known until the bullets hit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BQZip01 Posted June 23, 2012 Share Posted June 23, 2012 Doesn't look like this is going to go away any time soon... http://www.chron.com/news/article/Turkey-vows-action-against-Syria-for-downing-jet-3655034.php Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PapaJu Posted June 23, 2012 Share Posted June 23, 2012 They are saying it was shot down by AAA. If it was optically guided, then he wouldn't really have known until the bullets hit. Funny thing about those new air defenses the Russians gave them: http://blog.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2012/06/22/the_best_thing_ever_written_about_syrian_air_defenses I don't think anything comes of this. Turkey's current leadership doesn't want to get involved in anything that would force it to call in the rest of NATO. This might be Syria's 2nd strike in the "misunderstanding" game, though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nsplayr Posted June 24, 2012 Share Posted June 24, 2012 Turkey's current leadership doesn't want to get involved in anything that would force it to call in the rest of NATO. Or on second thought let's call in NATO and talk about this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tac airlifter Posted June 24, 2012 Share Posted June 24, 2012 This one would be fun. Just sayin. Concur. I'm tired of fighting in shitty places. Syria is beautiful, nearby countries are mostly nice places to base from and it's filled with assholes. I'm game anytime, but I don't think this one is going anywhere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Champ Kind Posted June 25, 2012 Share Posted June 25, 2012 I'm in if we can drink there. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guineapigfury Posted June 25, 2012 Share Posted June 25, 2012 I'm in if we can drink there. As someone wiser than me once said, "You know it's fucked up when your wistful for Vietnam and you weren't even there." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Champ Kind Posted June 25, 2012 Share Posted June 25, 2012 As someone wiser than me once said, "You know it's fucked up when your wistful for Vietnam and you weren't even there." Stealing it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prozac Posted June 25, 2012 Share Posted June 25, 2012 I'm in if we can drink there. LOL. It'll be 6.9 seconds before we're all in reflective belts all the time and another 6.9 seconds before there are about 50 too many chiefs on base. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TacAirCoug Posted June 25, 2012 Share Posted June 25, 2012 LOL. It'll be 6.9 seconds before we're all in reflective belts all the time and another 6.9 seconds before there are about 50 too many chiefs on base. Wrong. The Chiefs will already be there when you land. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThreeHoler Posted June 25, 2012 Share Posted June 25, 2012 Hey, two or three drinks a day are still better odds than the two ounces of Old Crow they got post-mission in the Hump. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toro Posted June 25, 2012 Share Posted June 25, 2012 Wrong. The Chiefs will already be there when you land. The E-9s aren't there when metal is flying. What until shit dies down, then they'll show up. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TacAirCoug Posted June 25, 2012 Share Posted June 25, 2012 The E-9s aren't there when metal is flying. What until shit dies down, then they'll show up. I know, I was sort of taking the current trend line to the extreme in jest. Sort of. Part of me is afraid I'll be right. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoHum Posted July 1, 2012 Share Posted July 1, 2012 Turkey has scrambled six F-16 fighter jets near its border with Syria after Syrian helicopters came close to the border, the country's army says. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Napoleon_Tanerite Posted July 2, 2012 Share Posted July 2, 2012 The Libya mission was an absolute blast. Flying productive sorties, then returning to our Mediterranean getaway afterward to get blind drunk. Not an E-9 in sight, and nobody gave a damn about anything other than getting the mission done and having a good time. Deployments don't have to suck. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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