Ottoman Empire goes bear hunting

[Divemaster]

Not exactly an Archduke Ferdinand moment but... This was by a NATO country. Yosemite Sam accidentally laying down a powder train? It seems to be an SU-24, according to CNN.

ETA: Reports are that two ejected inside Syria. This will give the West a good view of Russian CSAR capability in an expeditionary environment.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-34907983

Turkey 'down Russian warplane on Syria border'

Turkish warplanes have reportedly shot down a Russian military aircraft on the border with Syria.
Russia's Interfax news agency cited the Russian defence ministry as saying that a Su-24 had crashed in northern Syria, and that its two pilots had ejected.
Turkish military officials said Turkish F-16s had shot down the plane after repeatedly warning its pilots that they were violating Turkish airspace.
Video footage showed the plane crashing into mountains in Latakia province.
Russia launched an air campaign to bolster Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's government in late September.
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It says it has targeted only "terrorists", but activists say its strikes have mainly hit Western-backed rebel groups.
Turkey, a staunch critic of Mr Assad, has warned against violations of its airspace by Russian and Syrian aircraft.
Last month, Ankara said Turkish F-16s had intercepted a Russian jet that crossed its border and two Turkish jets had been harassed by an unidentified Mig-29.

[blacksmoke]

Here it comes!

[blacksmoke]

It'll be interesting to see if IS or some other group doesn't get to them first. What will Russia's response be? On sofrep they had an article saying events like this would lead to WW3.

[Pete]

Round One - US equipment one - Soviet equipment zero.

[abc_123]

Originally Posted by Pete

Round One - US equipment one - Soviet equipment zero.

Not really a fair fight.. F-16 vs what is primarily a ground attack aircraft.

[T-Rock]

Could this be seen as Erdogan working diligently to keep the ISIS supply lines open?

[olddoc]

so a Muslim country could pull us into direct conflict with Russia by way of NATO?

[Sdiver]

It's being reported now, that Syrian "rebels" have shot down one of the Russian CSAR helos ... and that BOTH of the SU-24 pilots are dead.

Russian helicopter searching for missing pilots shot down by Syrian rebels

A Russian rescue helicopter has been shot down by Syrian rebels while searching for pilots missing after Turkey downed a Russian jet.

The helicopter was forced to make an emergency landing in a government-held area in Syria's Latakia province.

A Syrian insurgent group, which uses U.S. Tow missiles, said its fighters hit the helicopter with an anti-tank missile.

Video footage has emerged online appearing to show the helicopter after it crashed in dense woodland.

Plumes of smoke can be seen coming from the aircraft.

Vladmir Putin earlier warned Turkey of "significant consequences" after the Russian plane was shot down.

READ MORE: Turkey shoots down Russian fighter jet which 'violated its airspace' close to Syrian border

Pilot from downed Russian planeVideo footage was posted online which appeared to show a dead Russian pilot after a jet was shot down by Turkey

The Russian President also said the action by Turkey was a "stab in the back" and said it would have serious consequences for his country’s relations with Turkey.

Turkey claimed it shot down the fighter jet because it violated its airspace.

However, Putin said the jet was shot down in Syria, 4km from the Turkish border.

He told a media conference: "This event is beyond the normal framework of fighting against terrorism.

"Of course our military is doing heroic work against terrorism... But the loss today is a stab in the back, carried out by the accomplices of terrorists.

"....Our aircraft was downed over the territory of Syria, using air-to-air missile from a Turkish F-16."

A gruesome video appears to show Syrian rebels with a dead pilot from the jet.

A Syrian rebel group has distributed footage which they say shows the pilot.

Two pilots ejected but footage online now appears to show that one of the pilots has died. Sources now claim that the second pilot is also dead.

In the gruesome footage, a voice is heard saying "A Russian pilot.

A voice then adds: "God is great" .

It is not known what has happened to a second pilot who was in the plane.

Turkish military officials say a warplane shot down the jet because it violated its airspace.

The plane exploded in the air causing a huge fireball which fell on the Turkmen mountain on the Syrian side of the border.

Video footage captured in the area shows the jet covered in flames plummeting to the ground.

<snip>

http://drudgetoday.com/v2/r?n=0&s=18...t-down-6891003

[abc_123]

The video that I saw shows the helo sitting on the ground with blades stopped when it got schwacked by the TOW.

Must have been forced down by SAF or mechanical problems first.

[Team Sergeant]

Turks are playing a dangerous game.
The only reason they had the "balls" to even shoot at a Russian warplane is because big brother stands behind them.

America is backing the wrong tribe/tribes and it's going to get more and more US military members killed until we sever those ties.

[blacksmoke]

How does partial member of NATO military support go? How could Turkey end up being a member and not Ukraine?? Let Russia give a ton of weapons and training assistance to the Kurds.

[olddoc]

How are they a member after Cypress? Would China sit this out if NATO intervened or would they even care?

[akv]

Originally Posted by olddoc

How are they a member after Cypress? Would China sit this out if NATO intervened or would they even care?

Definitely agree cooler heads need to prevail here.

Turkey is in NATO due to strategic location, and currently has the second largest army in NATO. As for the Chinese if they cared their might be economic or trade impacts but militarily have they ever had the ability to project force outside China or contiguous countries? In their last military foray abroad they got their ass handed to them by the NVA.

[blacksmoke]

I was thinking not a full member of the EU. Well aint that something, the country that turned a blind eye to IS guys running back and forth to Syria we might have to go fight for if somehting happened...

[Flagg]

I wonder how identifiable they were as Russian aircraft?

Syrians have SU24s in inventory too.

And there's already been a few shoot downs:

Syrian Pantir shot down a Turk RF4 recce bird.

And the Turks shot down 1-2 Syrian fast movers.

SIGiNT of verbal coms, differentiation between Syrian and Russian SU24s, ROEs, etc.

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Turkey and Greece have had really aggressive air intercepts over the years(with multiple losses of aircraft) and they're both members of NATO.