“Turkish Phantom jet fighters [as the one shot down by Syria] routinely violate the Greek airspace.” And get locked by SAM sites.

June 26, 2012 Military Aviation, Syria
David Cenciotti
Screenshot from the SA-8 video showing the lock on an F-4 Phantom.

As what really happened on Jun. 22, when a Turkish Air Force RF-4E from Erhac was shot down by a Syrian Air Defense battery, after violating the Syrian airspace, remains a mystery, an interesting video seems to prove that Turkish Phantoms routinely violate the Greek airspace and get locked by the Greek artillery radars.

This is what the Keep Talking Greece blog affirms publishing the following interesting video allegedly showing a Turkish F-4 locked by a Greek SA-8 anti-aircraft system.

“It is almost a daily practice for the Greek artillery that its radars lock Turkish fighter jets as they illegally enter Greek airspace. However Greeks do not push the button….” says the blog.

Was the RF-4E shot down off Syria flying a mission to probe the Damascus air defense system similar to those flown (quite regularly) in the Aegean sea to probe the Greece’s air defenses?



About David Cenciotti
WebsiteFacebookTwitterLinkedIn instagram
David Cenciotti is a journalist based in Rome, Italy. He is the Founder and Editor of “The Aviationist”, one of the world’s most famous and read military aviation blogs. Since 1996, he has written for major worldwide magazines, including Air Forces Monthly, Combat Aircraft, and many others, covering aviation, defense, war, industry, intelligence, crime and cyberwar. He has reported from the U.S., Europe, Australia and Syria, and flown several combat planes with different air forces. He is a former 2nd Lt. of the Italian Air Force, a private pilot and a graduate in Computer Engineering. He has written five books and contributed to many more ones.

Related Articles

2 Comments

  2. Hello !
    I’m a regular reader of this blog and I would like to congratulate you for its high quality.
    I usually don’t comment on blogs, but as I found that the information was treated somehow partially, I would like to react to this post’s initial topic : the routinely violations of greek airspace by turkish fighters.
    People who have spent a few years in the Aegean area will probably agree that both training missions peformed by Turkey and the ones performed by Greece over the aegean sea routinely end up with airspace violations.
    Historical aspects have lead to a constant emulation between the two countries’ forces, and knowing that, it is no longer a surprise to see the budget Greece is dedicating to its forces, for example.
    Another aspect I would also like to raise on this issue is the number of air violation Turkey has to deal with on a daily basis. As the most eastern member of NATO, Turkey’s airspace is regularly approached by russian aircraft, but also Syrian choppers, as it was stated by Turkey recently.
    Finally, it may be interesting for people to look on a map where it occured : the incident area is also very close to the Turkish coasts.
    And to conclude, I would alos like to mention that, as you said, there are lots of measures to be taken against an intrusive aircraft before shooting it down (e.g. : radio calls on emergency freqs, interception by the QRA, or at least warning shots). This is a strange story. And the 2 crewmembers are still missing…

Comments are closed.