Posted on 02/11/2005 10:50:28 AM PST by lnbchip
Israel downed 2 Syrian MiGs last September over sea
SPECIAL TO WORLD TRIBUNE.COM Friday, February 11, 2005
Diplomatic sources said Israel Air Force F-16 multi-role fighters intercepted and downed two Syrian MiG-29 fighter-jets last year. The sources said the dogfight took place in September 2004 over the eastern Mediterranean Sea.
This was the first engagement between Israeli and Syrian fighter-jets since the 1980s. The sources said the air battle took place when Israel Air Force fighter-jets buzzed the Syrian city of Latakia, a port used by Iran for the shipment of weapons to Hizbullah.
The Washington-based Reform Party of Syria first provided details of the Israeli-Syrian dogfight. RPS said the air battle took place on Sept. 14, 2004, adding that both downed pilots were rescued by Syrian military helicopters, Middle East Newsline reported.
RPS, quoting a European source, said the Israeli fighter-jets used an Israeli-origin Python-4 air-to-air missile to down one of the MiG-29s. The other Syrian MiG-29 was shot down by a U.S.-origin AIM-9M Sidewinder.
The pilots of the MiG-29s were identified by RPS as Maj. Arshad Midhat Mubarak and Capt. Ahmad Al Khatib.
Diplomatic sources said the Syrian losses led President Bashar Assad to accelerate efforts to procure advanced anti-aircraft systems from Russia.
Syria has requested a range of anti-aircraft systems, including the SA-18, TOR-M1, S-300PMU2 and the S-400 systems.
The most likely Russian sale to Damascus is that of the SA-18, the sources said. They said Russia would supply the first SA-18 short-range systems – either directly or through a third country – within several months.
In January, Russia and Syria – overriding objections from Israel and the United States – agreed on the sale of the SA-18 to Damascus. Russian officials said the sale of the SA-18 would not violate any international arms agreement.
"Russia has cooperated with Syria for decades, and my country is convinced that Syria has a strong right to get defensive weapons," Russian ambassador in Tunisia Aleksei Tserub said.
Is there any type of counter battery, i.e, how do we destroy them on the ground?
Aviation Ping?
Always have, as well..
Had the results been reversed, I'll bet the MiGS would have hung aroung to take out the rescue choppers.
Blurb about this is now running at bottom of Fox news channel.
We generally don't. If they launch, you can send someone after them but that's about it.
Thanks for posting.
Also, as to the MiGs, thank God they got out safe. Not just for obvious reasons, but so they can tell their bosses: Do NOT piss off owners of American fighters...
The question is, what prompted Israel to invade their airspace? Artillery is routinely fired into Israeli settlements from Syria. I don't know what caused the incident, and this story doesn't seem to provide any details, but I guarantee you the Israeli's weren't going in for sh*ts and giggles.
VIDEO DAMN IT SHOW US THE VIDEO
The story is bogus.
Figures. I wonder what people they think are going to accomplish by putting a story out that is so easily proven false? Maybe we should ask Dan Rather.
Curious why this is coming out now...
[singing] boom boom boom boom, gonna shoot ya right down...
similar encounters:
http://www.acig.org/artman/publish/article_437.shtml
Not similar, but exactly the same with changes to make it appear it happened in 2004. The Reform Party of Syria have the '2004' story on their website. The original story of the incident in 2001 rides on the back of 9/11 for comfort. The guys on ACIG, or one guy in particular, is the person who started the story of the 2001 incident and it has grown since then.
The RPS have just cobbled together stories from ACIG and linked them in with recent stories of Russia offering Syria SAMs. The RPS obviously have an agenda, but they should have though it out a bit more instead of simply making it up. Even Debka have discounted the story!
SA-18 is a MANPAD! No RADAR.
The Jerusalem Post are running the following story:
Snippet:
IAF: We didn't down Syrian MiGs last September
The air force on Sunday flatly denied a report that Israeli F-16 warplanes shot down two advanced Syrian MiG-29 fighter jets during a dogfight off the Syrian coast last September ....
... in Tel Aviv Sunday, the Air Force flatly denied the report of the air battle. "There isn't a shred of truth in it. It just didn't happen," an IDF Spokesman said.
I second Bombardier's comments! Right on the money!
"IAF: We didn't down Syrian MiGs last September
The air force on Sunday flatly denied a report that Israeli F-16 warplanes shot down two advanced Syrian MiG-29 fighter jets during a dogfight off the Syrian coast last September ....
... in Tel Aviv Sunday, the Air Force flatly denied the report of the air battle. "There isn't a shred of truth in it. It just didn't happen," an IDF Spokesman said."
-Well, this aproves the things that I said.
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