Turkish Air Force F-16 has just shot down a Syrian helicopter that violated the Turkish airspace

Published on: September 16, 2013 at 6:13 PM

According to an official statement by Turkey’s deputy PM, a Syrian helicopter (possibly an Mi-8/17 Hip, based on the amount of such types in service) that had violated the Turkish airspace by 2 km was shot down earlier today by Turkish Air Force F-16s.

The episode took place at 4.00 PM local time in the southern province of Hatay, near Güveççi.

According to the first reports, a number of F-16s were scrambled to intercept the chopper as soon as it was nearing the border.

In June 2012, a Turkish RF-4E Phantom reconnaissance jet was downed by a Syrian Air Defense Unit. On Sept. 2, Assad launched two Syrian Air Force Su-24 attack planes towards Cyprus to probe British airbase’s air defenses; the aircraft turned back to Syria, after RAF Typhoons and TuAF F-16s were scrambled to intercept them.

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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.
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