What happened to the Turkish F-4 warplane that was shot down on Friday off the coast of Latakia remains very much disputed, as the official Turkish version of the events differ slightly but significantly from the Syrian version.
According to Syria’s military, they detected an unidentified object speeding toward Latakia at high speed and very low altitude. They hit it just 1 km off the coast, and it eventually crashed into the sea about 10 km away. It was only later that they learned it was a Turkish warplane.
Turkey, for its part, confirmed an air space violation, but insisted it was accidental and “routine.” They claim the plane had left Syrian airspace 15 minutes before it was shot down, and crashed 24 km off the coast, in international airspace.
The Turkish claim is significant, and rests on the plane being a single mile out of Syrian airspace (13 miles off coast instead of the 12 defined by international law). Turkish FM Ahmet Davutoglu insisted the plane was on a “training mission.”
The Turkish version is perplexing on a few fronts, not the least of which being that the warplane, which has a top speed about about 1,400 mph, having “accidentally” crossed the border, was still milling about just one mile outside of Syrian airspace 15 minutes later to get hit with a missile. Another is that Turkey maintains it is positive exactly where the plane went down, just barely outside Syrian airspace instead of just barely inside it, but still hasn’t been able to find the plane’s wreckage days later.
What was the plane doing in Syrian air space in the first place?
They need updated photos of the coastline in order to find places with weak Syrian military posts to bring in the NATO islamic killer terrorists which currently trained in Kosovo. Satellite photos are not clear and detailed enough for terrorist infiltration.
From German Phantom fighter-jets I know that there are spy versions or special equipment for infrared (+ may be radar?) and other photo capabilities.
And the defense blog of CNN recently annouonced a new US ship heading to the region, that acts as floating naval base for US special operations.
For those not familar with "special operations" and so called "unconventional warfare" of USA this definition of a training manual of the US Army gives some hints and understanding what is going on currently in Syria – also when islamist proxy fighters are used in the Arab world:
Special Forces Unconventional Warfare (UW):
"There is another type of warfare—new in its intensity, ancient in its origin—war by guerrillas, subversives, insurgents, assassins; war by ambush instead of by combat, by
infiltration instead of aggression, seeking victory by eroding and exhausting the enemy
instead of engaging him. It preys on unrest."
or: 1-1. The intent of U.S. UW efforts is to exploit a hostile power’s political, military, economic, and psychological vulnerabilities by developing and sustaining resistance forces to accomplish U.S. strategic objectives."
source: Special Forces Unconventional Warfare
Training Circular No. 18-01
US Army John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School, search: USArmy-UW.pdf publicintelligence.net has it as PDF
Recon. Gulf of Tonkin.
More crucial is the question of what hit it. If the Syrians are right and it was antiaircraft gunfire, then it cannot have been outside the 12 mile limit. There's no AA that can hit anything that far out. It's a pretty decent range even for a SAM missile. Are there SAM sites up near Latakia? No one has made that claim.
Since it was within Syrian air space and could take photos from the coastline, they had to down it. Also when it turned out that the antiaircraft gunfire did not make sure that it will go down.
And THAN they had also the right of shooting it down outside this range. Given the time the missile needs for reaching the target, the missile was shot when it still was inside. And nevertheless it HAS BEEN INSIDE – this is what counts.
Interesting to: In one article I read that the Turks said, this was "only a reconnaissance flight" and in another article I found they say, it was no spy flight.
But Wikipedia says: Their roles (reconnaissance flights) are:
" to collect imagery intelligence, signals intelligence and measurement and signature intelligence."
Turkey talking of peace — Acting like war
Now Turkey is claiming that another of its jet fighters was shot at by Syria.
But surely, Turkey flying a war plane up high near the border of Syria, when they are claiming that NATO has a moral obligation to execute a no-fly zone in Syria, surely doing such aerial photography is a criminal act of espionage tantamount to an act of war.