[CivilWarBrewing]

I think Putin was lulled into thinking Turkey would not do such a thing. Otherwise, wouldn't his pilots be dropping chaff and flares to divert an incoming sidewinder? How embarrassing his SU-24 pilot didn't get cockpit warnings but then I also heard that the distance between the F-16 and SU-24 exceeded the range of the AIM-9 but it hit its target anyway.

I don't see how Putin lets Turkey get away with this. Stay tuned.

[The Ghost of FReepers Past]

It sounds like that sort of tiny air space violation is done by pretty much everyone and always results in warnings but NOT shoot downs.

When the terrain is such that a country has a tiny tip hanging down into the neighboring country, it is awfully easy to do. Why do it? I don’t know. Maybe it has to do with the path of the entire flight and its purpose. Maybe it is just drama. Certainly we all know it was not a threat to Turkey. They USED IT to go on the offense against Russia in retaliation for Russia’s support of Assad. Turkey was the aggressor. NATO is not obligated to support or defend this.

[Zhang Fei]

I don't see how Putin lets Turkey get away with this. Stay tuned.

Turkey may have just created a Russian-backed Kurdistan by shooting down the Russian jet. If the Kurds are willing to fight, the Russians might yet give them the nation they’ve been pushing for. A couple of billion dollars a year and state-of-the-art SAM’s in PKK hands would give the Turks endless headaches.