Now, a spokesman for the Russian Ministry of Defense is saying that Russia believes the attack was a set-up, with Israeli hoping to use the Russian plane as badly needed cover from Syrian air defenses. Since the Russian plane had much higher profile than the Israeli plane, the Syrian defense systems would naturally latch on to the Il-20.
"The Israeli pilots used the Russian plane as cover and set it up to be targeted by the Syrian air defense forces. As a consequence, the Il-20, which has radar cross-section much larger than the F-16, was shot down by an S-200 system missile," the statement said.
Comments:
1. It's a war zone, with multiple actors. Given that fact, would it not be prudent to provide your lumbering airplane with countermeasures? Or alert your own ground defenses to its presence, so they don't target it?
2. Even if the Israelis did use the plane as cover, wouldn't that also be an anticipated act during a war? Again, countermeasures?
3. As with the devastation of the Russian mercenary invasion of the "American" sector, and the earlier shoot down of their fighter plane by the Turks, is this not a mark of sloppy Russian war fighting? Isn't it foreseeable that the Syrians, in a panic, will shoot everything in to the sky as soon as they can. I mean, think of the way they act at weddings! Now imagine that with missiles!
The Russians need to set up countermeasures to protect themselves from the missile systems that they sell to the Syrians.
ReplyDeleteIt's the Keystone Kops with high powered weapons and missiles.
DeleteWhen our military drove into Kuwait City in the first Gulf War, PJ O'Rourke
ReplyDeletewas there waiting for them. He called this "Happy fire." He said he was
more afraid of rounds falling from the skies than he ever was of the
Iraqi army.
The problem with shooting into the air is that bullets will come down............somewhere.
ReplyDeleteNo. You are doing it wrong. Shoot them straight up into the air. Get the full effect. Again and again.............
ReplyDeleteSyrian missile system operators? seriously? Russians would fly thru airspace defended by Syrian troops with their fingers on the triggers? seriously? you guys really really believe that? Huh? the Russian aircrafts IFF was not turned on? the S200 defensive fire-control system can not discriminate Russian aircraft signals from all others?? Huh? really? What kind of bad joke is the Russian military playing on their political leaders?
ReplyDeleteI put good money on Russian pilots in Syria checking the IFF interrogate and respond annunciator in their cockpits very closely. Might just be safer to find an IAF aircraft and just follow it.