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Post by Sailor on Nov 24, 2015 4:53:32 GMT -8
NATO has called an emergency meeting in Brussels on Tuesday after two Turkish F-16 fighter jets shot down a Russian warplane near Turkey's border with Syria in an incident that raises the possibility of conflict between Moscow and NATO. "The aim of this extraordinary North Atlantic Council meeting is for Turkey to inform allies about the downing of a Russian airplane," NATO's deputy spokesperson Carmen Romero told the Associated Press. A U.S. official confirmed to Fox News that the Russian Sukhoi-24 was downed by an air-to-air missile north of the Syrian port city of Latakia. The official added that the Russian jet was warned three times to depart Turkish airspace. The official told Fox News that the Su-24's two pilots parachuted safely and were last seen attempting to evade capture. Two Russian helicopters were airborne to attempt a rescue mission. More: www.foxnews.com/world/2015/11/24/turkish-f-16-shoots-down-russian-fighter-jet-near-syria-border/?intcmp=hpbt1As if things weren't interesting enough in the Mid East right now ... Some news reports have claimed 1 pilot was captured by whothehellknows (Kurds or US backed rebels or ... ,) others claimed 1 was killed. Harrumph!!! Play nice children. The enemy is ISIS, not each other. |
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Post by 101ABN on Nov 24, 2015 14:54:05 GMT -8
One Russian chopper is reported to have been shot down and the two Sukhoi pilots are said to have been killed by a Syrian rebel group.
As ugly as this is, it could get MUCH uglier and quickly.
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Post by Sailor on Nov 24, 2015 18:51:29 GMT -8
One Russian chopper is reported to have been shot down and the two Sukhoi pilots are said to have been killed by a Syrian rebel group. As ugly as this is, it could get MUCH uglier and quickly. Yes it could, very quickly. Putin has a short fuse and the Turks are no better. The cruiser that was accompanying the de Gaulle has been repostitioned so his SAMS can cover part of Syria but that means little UNLESS he is moved very close to Turkish waters. Insurgents have been knocking our helo's down with RPGs fairly regularly, interesting this one was killed by a TOW. I think a TOW could even kill one of those MI-24 Hind "flying tanks." The hand has been dealt, now we see who holds the aces and who can bluff well. This could go to hell so damned fast ... |
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Post by warrior1972 on Nov 24, 2015 18:52:01 GMT -8
One Russian chopper is reported to have been shot down and the two Sukhoi pilots are said to have been killed by a Syrian rebel group. As ugly as this is, it could get MUCH uglier and quickly. That's a fact. |
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Post by Sailor on Nov 25, 2015 3:40:29 GMT -8
Turkey has long been a thorn in the Russian bear's paw, it controls the only exit from the Black Sea into the Med and from there to the rest of the world's oceans. Russia since the days of Peter the Great has desired to become a true world naval power, control of the Dardanelles Strait lets Turkey shut off access from Russia's Black Sea fleet.
I doubt Putin would risk war with NATO at this point but if he can manuver the chess pieces just right he could end up with the pretext he needs to make the Turks out to be the bad guys and no NATO nation willing to support them. Putin is very good at chess.
Russia's conventional military power is only a shadow of what the Soviet Union used to possess but it's still more than sufficient to deal with Turkey alone. I hope the Turks understand that.
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Post by 101ABN on Nov 25, 2015 10:40:17 GMT -8
Latest report says one of the Russian pilots was rescued.
Sounds like it was US backed rebels that killed the other pilot.
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Post by Sailor on Nov 25, 2015 19:33:22 GMT -8
Latest report says one of the Russian pilots was rescued. Sounds like it was US backed rebels that killed the other pilot. From the description it sounds like he was still in midair when they opened fire on him. At least one report says Syrian (Assad) special forces rescued the survivor. |
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Post by dustdevil28 on Nov 25, 2015 20:25:45 GMT -8
Not sure how to react on this one. On the one hand there isn't much of an ISIS threat in the area the aircraft was operating, but on the other hand I don't see how the Turks could have felt endangered by the Russian jet. All in all this could have been defused by having the Turkish F-16 escort the Russian Su out of its air space. Everyone lives and despite the Russian jets location, focus isn't taken off of the fight against ISIS.
Secondly, though I don't care much for Russia, that Russian pilot likely has a family back home who will wonder why their son was killed. Was it really just to prop up a leader in Assad who won't prevail without the massive support of foreign forces?
-DD
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Post by dustdevil28 on Nov 25, 2015 20:31:19 GMT -8
Turkey has long been a thorn in the Russian bear's paw, it controls the only exit from the Black Sea into the Med and from there to the rest of the world's oceans. Russia since the days of Peter the Great has desired to become a true world naval power, control of the Dardanelles Strait lets Turkey shut off access from Russia's Black Sea fleet. I doubt Putin would risk war with NATO at this point but if he can manuver the chess pieces just right he could end up with the pretext he needs to make the Turks out to be the bad guys and no NATO nation willing to support them. Putin is very good at chess. Russia's conventional military power is only a shadow of what the Soviet Union used to possess but it's still more than sufficient to deal with Turkey alone. I hope the Turks understand that. No, but Turkey is enough of a challenge that Russia wouldn't walk away from a conflict without its fair share of wounds. And as for the Dardanells, Russia may be able to inflict some heavy damage in a conventional conflict, but I doubt they have the manpower to invade and occupy a nation like Turkey. They are a far cry better then Georgia in territory and military capability. Their also isn't as large of a Russian speaking population for them to take advantage of as they did in Ukraine. Putin's options are limited. I would look for him to do what he did today, more concentrated attacks on groups backed by the US and Turkey. -DD |
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