Posted on 02/09/2018 10:02:47 AM PST by Simon Green
The pilot of a shot down Russian Aerospace Force Su-25SM attack aircraft, when cornered by insurgents last week, reportedly resorted to his personal weapons and was not taken alive.
According to releases from the Russian Ministry of Defense, Major Roman Filipov, 33, was shot down by a shoulder-launched missile near the town of Maarrat al-Nu’man on Feb. 3 while on a routine patrol. Ejecting in an area controlled by Al-Nusra — a jihadist group labeled as terrorists by both the U.S. and Russia — Filipov continued his fight once on the ground.
In a statement from Col. Gen. Sergei Surovikin, commander of the Russian air force, “Being badly wounded, and when distance from militants reached several dozen meters, the Russian officer exploded a hand grenade.”
The Sun, a tabloid in the UK, among others reported that, before his death, the 18-year veteran radioed to his base in Khmeimim that he had shot two insurgents and, before setting off the grenade that killed him, yelled, “This is for our guys.”
In 2015, Russian state media detailed that aircrew operating in Syria were carrying AK pattern rifles, and Stechkin APS machine pistols with several 20-round magazines to use should they have to eject.
The non-profit Russian-language Conflict Intelligence Team think tank posted images of items purportedly recovered from the wreckage including handwritten notes and a Stechkin APS pistol with three partially loaded mags, one of which appears empty.
Filipov, whose remains were repatriated to Russia through the help of Turkish officials, was posthumously awarded the title of the Hero of the Russian Federation, that country’s highest title. He was honored in Voronezh, his hometown, about 300 miles from Moscow, on Thursday. Among the crowd of 30,000 who attended the snow-covered ceremony were his widow and four-year-old daughter,
Reminds me of that old poster "Last Great Act of Defiance" with the mouse flippin off the raptor. Hehehe. d;^)
I think the picture and info about the machine pistol is new, which is why I posted it.
I honor him as a warrior fighting for his country.
JoMa
Is this his weapon? Also, I was glad to see that he had a hero’s funeral in Russia.
When fighting savages like the jihadists, the Japanese, the Eaffan SS,the Vietcong you save the last bullet for yourself. It’s the only way.
When you're wounded and left on Afghanistan's plains,
And the women come out to cut up what remains,
Jest roll to your rifle and blow out your brains
And go to your Gawd like a soldier.
Yeah, I’d only heard about the grenade previously. d:^)
Apparently Ivan is still producing warriors.
5.56mm
What was he going to do, surrender to these animals??
Ain’t jelly, it’s jammed.
And your going to have a hard time hitting anything if that’s on auto.
> What was he going to do, surrender to these animals?? <
When ISIS captures a pilot, their standard procedure is to burn them alive. And the I in ISIS stands for “Islamic”. Yet George W. Bush says “Islam is peace”. I’ve got the feeling that Bush was wrong.
It doesn’t look jammed - and he may have been mag swapping during lulls in the fight/when he got a chance, as you’re supposed to. Last mag being empty is probably the one that was in the gun when they got in close and he was forced to resort to the grenade.
I was thinking he was able to empty one magazine, got some stoppages got panicked and kept switching and then used the grenade on himself because it was the last thing he could count on.
Also, smart artillery munitions are replacing many close air support missions...at least for US forces.
“MANPADs are making close air support increasingly dangerous for pilots when attacking well-equipped ground troops”
Thanks to Obama and Clinton.
Looks like a TT-33; semi-auto, old, 7.62/25 with a lot of penetrating power.
I’m wondering where the first hand account of his last minutes came from. From the jihadis that killed him? Was his radio mike open during the whole time this event transpired?
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