Free Republic

The Ukrainian air force has been ... busy. With a pre-war force of just 125 or so fighters and bombers, the Ukrainian air arm defended the sky over Kyiv during the heady early hours of Russia’s assault on the city in the spring of 2022 and then, after that assault collapsed, shifted its attention to the front lines in eastern and southern Ukraine. In 15 months of hard fighting, the air force has lost at least half of its pre-war jet inventory—and scores of pilots. But amid this violence, one small community had been relatively idle: the section of the...

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said on Friday that his military's SU-24 warplanes had been modified to carry nuclear weapons and that Minsk would react immediately if the West caused it any problems. -snip- "They (the West) must understand that if they opt for escalation no helicopters or planes will save them," Lukashenko was quoted as saying. "Everything was ready," he said, referring to the work to modify Belarusian warplanes to carry nuclear weapons. "It's not a good idea to escalate things with Belarus because that would be an escalation with the Union State (of Russia and Belarus) which has nuclear...

U.S. Africa Command says that at least two MiG-29 Fulcrum fighter jets, possibly piloted by shadowy Russian mercenaries, have crashed in Libya. Jared Szuba, the Pentagon correspondent for AI-Monitor, Tweeted out that one of the jets was apparently lost on June 28, while the other went down on September 7, 2020. This information had come in a statement from Rear Admiral Heidi Berg, U.S. Africa Command's (AFRICOM) director of intelligence. Another tweet indicates that Berg believes that "Russian fighter aircraft," presumably MiG-29s too, but potentially also Su-24 Fencer strike aircraft, have conducted airstrikes in Libya. AI-Monitor's Szuba follows that up...

The warplanes, a mix of at least 14 MiG-29 fighters and Su-24 fighter-bombers, appear to have taken off from a base in Russia sometime in the middle of May and flown to Hmeimeem, Russia’s airbase on Syria’s Mediterranean coast. There they were repainted, their Russian Federation Air Force markings obscured, before flying more than 1,200 miles and landing in eastern Libya, in territories controlled by Russia’s ally, strongman-in-waiting Khalifa Haftar. The deployment, which the Pentagon revealed last week and Moscow denied, is the latest in a series of escalations that have seen all types of weapons — Turkish and Emirati...

The Syrian fighter jet Israel shot down over the Golan Tuesday is an old Soviet-era aircraft that has formed the backbone of Syria’s air force as attrition has taken its toll over seven long years of war. It took off from the T4 Air base more than 200km from the Golan and was on a mission to bomb ISIS targets near the 1974 ceasefire line. Initially thought to be either an SU-22 or SU-24, it was flying towards Israeli airspace at high speed, the IDF said. What do we know about the SU-22 and its capabilities? According to the website...

Israel takes down Syrian plane For the second day in a row, sirens sound in Israel's north. Israel fires interceptor missiles towards Syrian plane in Israeli airspace. Sirens sounded Tuesday afternoon in regional councils in the Golan Heights and the Jordan Valley, as well as in the northern city of Katzrin. Residents of northern Israel reported that two interceptor missiles were fired from the Tzfat region. The IDF confirmed that two Patriot missiles had been fired at a Syrian Sukhoi plane. The plane was being tracked, and when it reached two kilometers (1.24 miles) into Israel, it was shot down....

JERUSALEM/BEIRUT, July 24 (Reuters) - Israel said it shot down a Syrian warplane that crossed into the occupied Golan Heights on Tuesday, but Damascus said the jet was fired on as it took part in sorties against rebels within Syria. The incident added new fuel to weeks of tensions over the Golan, a strategic plateau between the two old enemies and where Israel has been on high alert as Syrian government forces, supported by Russia, close in to regain rebel-held ground. Israel worries Syrian President Bashar al-Assad may defy a 1974 U.N. armistice that demilitarised much of the Golan, or...

The Syrian Arab Armed Forces are receiving 10 examples of the Sukhoi Su-24M2 'Fencer-D' attack aircraft from Russia, augmenting an unknown number of existing 'Fencers'. Jon Lake reports. Before the on-going deliveries began, Syria had received 22 Su-24s in total. Some 20 downgraded Su-24MK export versions were delivered from the Soviet Union in 1990, and these were augmented in the mid-1990s by single examples of the Su-24MK and the Su-24MR reconnaissance aircraft, which were donated by Libya after Syria provided support for Libya’s own ‘Fencer’ fleet. The aircraft are operated by 819 squadron at T4 (Tyas) Airbase in Central Syria,...

While Russian Su-24M/M2/SVP-24s are usually armed with only four bombs, Assadist Su-24MK2s carry much heftier loads of eight to 10 FAB-250M-62s or FAB-250–270s or five FAB-500M-62s. Photo via Y. A. In 1988, Syria placed an order for 48 Sukhoi Su-24MK fighter-bombers and expressed interest in obtaining additional examples. While 24 of these were delivered in 1990 and 1991, Moscow suspended further arms deliveries because Damascus began refusing to pay some old debts. The Su-24 thus entered service with № 819 Squadron of the Syrian Arab Air Force based at Tiyas Air Base, or T-4, while the planned second unit was...

MOSCOW --- The Syrian Air Force has received a batch of Su-24M2 (NATO reporting name: Fencer-D) frontline bombers supplied by Russia, according to the AMN news agency. "The Syrian Air Force has received several Su-24M2 aircraft supplied by Russia in order to beef up the Damascus’ combat capabilities to fight against international terrorism. At present, two Su-24M2 aircraft have been delivered with eight more planes to be transferred in the nearest future," the news agency said. According to AMN, Russia has supplied the aforementioned Su-24M2 frontline bombers to the Syrian governmental forces within the framework of the military-technical cooperation between...

The US Navy has taken three torpedoes to its bow and is going down. These are trying times for the US Navy. It seems that every two weeks or so there is some crisis engulfing the once proud, competent and steadfast organization that used to be a bedrock of the nation’s defense. The performance and conduct of the US Navy lately has seemed like something emanating from a Third World, Banana Republic coastal defense force; heavy on medals and light on brains, skills and tenacious fighting spirit. Two days ago the USS Donald Cook was taunted and embarrassed by Russian...

DEFENCES on the Falklands are being reviewed after it emerged Russia plans to offer Argentina long-range bombers. The aircraft, which Moscow will swap for beef and wheat, would be able to mount air patrols over Port Stanley. Ministry of Defence officials fear Buenos Aires would take delivery of the planes well before the deployment in 2020 of the Navy’s 65,000-tonne aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth and its F-35B fighters, leaving a “real window of vulnerability”. Defence cuts have left the Falklands with just four RAF Typhoon fighters, Rapier surface-to-air missiles and fewer than 1,200 troops, supported by a naval warship...

Israel has shot down a Syrian fighter jet over the Golan Heights, in the first such incident in almost 30 years. Syria has described the shooting as an “act of aggression”.

Israel shot down a Syrian aircraft on Tuesday as it attempted to fly over the ceasefire line into the Golan Heights, according to IDF Radio. "This Syrian aircraft, apparently a MiG-21 (fighter jet), which was approaching the Israeli side of the Golan, was shot down by a surface-to-air Patriot missile," the radio said. The wreckage of the aircraft landed on the Syrian-controlled side of the strategic plateau, it added.

The timing of this incident is rather curious, to say the least. Israel announced today that a single Syrian Su-24 fighter jet crossed over into Israeli airspace over the contested Golan Heights, prompting the IDF to shoot it down with a Patriot battery. This apparently took place while the US and its Arab partners launched air strikes elsewhere in Syria:CLICK ABOVE LINK FOR THE VIDEO The Israeli military shot down a Syrian fighter jet that infiltrated its airspace over the Golan Heights on Tuesday morning — the first such downing in decades, heightening tensions in the volatile plateau.The military...

Russia Grounds Su-24 Bomber Fleet after Urals Crash Russia has postponed indefinitely all flights of Su-24 Fencer tactical bombers after one of them crashed in Russia’s Urals, a source in the Defense Ministry said on Tuesday. The Su-24 combat aircraft crashed in the woods of the Kurgan region during a routine flight on Monday. Both pilots ejected safely. “The Air Force commander has cancelled all flights of this type of aircraft until the cause of the crash is established,” the source said but did not specify how long it could take. Monday’s crash was the third of a Su-24 in...

Iran Boosts Combat Capability of Strategic Aircraft TEHRAN (FNA)- A senior Iranian Air Force commander announced on Monday that the Iranian experts have successfully revived the capabilities of the country's strategic Sukhoi-24 aircraft, including its laser missile capabilities. "Our experts have revived important capabilities of Sukhoi-24, including its laser missiles, radar-guided air-to-ground missiles and long-range missiles," Lieutenant Commander of the Iranian Air Force for Operations General Seyed Mohammad Alavi told FNA. "Recently, the aircraft's laser missiles in a successful test-fire hit the target with zero-zero error," Alavi added. He further said that the Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force (IRIAF)...

Plane Crash Mars Naval Celebration A Su-24M bomber crashed yesterday at the main base of the Baltic Fleet in the city of Balstiisk during Naval Fleet Day celebrations attended by Defense Minister and First Deputy Prime Minister Sergey Ivanov. In spite of the emergency, three other bombers did not return immediately to the base, as they were supposed to. One of them was only able to land on the second attempt. The festivities, which Ivanov observed from aboard the flagship destroyer Perservering, included a naval parade and parachute competitions, with an airshow as the finale. Four Su-24M bombers from the...