Armenia Releases Images Of Su-25 Wreckage. Continues To Claim It Was Shot Down by Turkish F-16

September 30, 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh, Troubled Areas
Tom Demerly
David Cenciotti
An Armenian Su-25. In the boxes: the wreckage of the Frogfoot jet. (Image credit: Armenian Gov).

Armenians Allege Su-25 Was Downed at Long Range by Turkish Viper. Turkey Denies.

Multiple news outlets, many in proximity to the conflict, started reporting that, “A Su-25 jet of the Armenian Air Force was shot down by a Turkish F-16 fighter in the airspace of the Republic of Armenia” on Sept. 29, 2020. Reports in Russian media claimed the F-16 was “60 kilometers inside Azerbaijan’s air space” when the intercept took place.

Public Radio of Armenia reported that Press Secretary of the Armenian Ministry of Defense, Shushan Stepanyan, confirmed that the Su-25 was shot down. The single crewmember was killed in the incident.

Stepanyan also Tweeted that, “Today, at around 10:30 am, F-16 fighters of the Turkish Air Force took off from the “Ganja” airport from the Republic of Azerbaijan and ensured the delivery of bombing and missile strikes against settlements and ground units of the Armenian Armed Forces”.

According to Greek news outlets and social media accounts, “Turkish F-16 jets were deployed to Ganja Airbase in July/August under the pretext of joint exercises, but remained there. A week ago, they were seen flying over Ganja city by locals.” At the time of writing it is still not clear whether there are Turkish F-16s still deployed to Azerbaijan or not.

On Sept. 30, the Armenian Government also released some images of the crash site of the downed Su-25:

While the images may indeed show what remains of a Frogfoot, details are not enough to confirm the downing.

Turkish officials have rejected the accusation, stating that the claim an F-16 was involved in the incident is false.

Someone said that the Su-25 was indeed shot down, but by an Azerbaijanis MiG-29 Fulcrum and not by a Turkish Air Force F-16:

As of late on Monday, September 28 in the region, Armenian media outlets claimed 49 remotely piloted aircraft (RPAs), 4 helicopters, 80 armored vehicles, 1 aircraft and 82 un-armored motor vehicles belonging to the Azerbaijanis have been destroyed by the Armenian military during the clashes in the disputed Nagorno-Karabah region.

The involvement of Turkey in support of the Republic of Azerbaijan in their clash with Armenia would signal additional escalation in the conflict and if reports of Turkish involvement in the escalating conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan are accurate, there could be additional involvement from other countries, including Russia. Three days ago, Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed “serious concern about the renewal of large-scale military conflict”. Putin went on to call for a halt to hostilities in a phone call with Nikol Pashinyan, Prime Minister of Armenia, according to an official statement from Russia’s Kremlin.



About Tom Demerly
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Tom Demerly is a feature writer, journalist, photographer and editorialist who has written articles that are published around the world on TheAviationist.com, TACAIRNET.com, Outside magazine, Business Insider, We Are The Mighty, The Dearborn Press & Guide, National Interest, Russia’s government media outlet Sputnik, and many other publications. Demerly studied journalism at Henry Ford College in Dearborn, Michigan. Tom Demerly served in an intelligence gathering unit as a member of the U.S. Army and Michigan National Guard. His military experience includes being Honor Graduate from the U.S. Army Infantry School at Ft. Benning, Georgia (Cycle C-6-1) and as a Scout Observer in a reconnaissance unit, Company “F”, 425th INF (RANGER/AIRBORNE), Long Range Surveillance Unit (LRSU). Demerly is an experienced parachutist, holds advanced SCUBA certifications, has climbed the highest mountains on three continents and visited all seven continents and has flown several types of light aircraft.
About David Cenciotti
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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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