Post by Emperor AAdmin on Nov 10, 2018 20:54:56 GMT -5
Greek-Turkish air raids over the Aegean Sea
Author: Mario Stefanov
stu. 10, 2018
stu. 10, 2018
The most dangerous point of the air competition at this moment is not in the Baltic sky, nor on the North Sea or around the British Isles, nor beyond the ceasefire of the two Koreas. It's not in the sky of Syria. The most ardent air raids have been taking place over the Aegean Sea on a daily basis for the sea and air separation of Greece and Turkey.
Almost daily above the Aegean Islands there is a reluctant competition of Greek and Turkish combat aircraft. There are some air battles in which opposing combat aircraft intercept each other, punching each other by simulating a deliberate attack on an enemy aircraft. Radar and weapon systems are activated on Greek and Turkish combat aircraft, targeted, or introduced into the control of the fire control system, include electronic disturbance and electronic observation devices.
In this nerve game, the opposing aircraft fly one to the other, and the one who is first removed from the line of a secure collision loses. It often acts as artillery fire by firing in front of and around enemy aircraft, and on several occasions self-inflicted air-to-air missiles have also been fired.
The uninterrupted air war of the two NATO members has so far led many pilots both on the one side and the other, but nevertheless it continues. The incidents are so much that their listing would require an entire book. The dispute arose when Greece proclaimed the border of its territorial sea at a distance of six miles from the coast, and expanded the airspace to ten miles from the coastal edge. As the Greek islands in the Aegean Sea near the Turkish mainland, the Turkish side is considered to be damaged and does not recognize the airspace set at a distance of ten miles from the Greek islands. A dispute over Cyprus and the proclamation of the Turkish Republic of northern Cyprus, and lately competition for control over discovered gas deposits around Cyprus.
The incidents are innumerable, but it is possible to extract some of them, characteristic in the way they are unfolding and drastic in the consequences.
Thus, on June 18, 1992, participating in a duel with two Turkish F-16 fighters, a Greek pilot Nikolaos Sialmas was killed at a low altitude above the island of Ayios Efstratios when his Mirage collapsed. On October 8, 1996, a Turkish F-16 aircraft crashed in Greek airspace near the island of Chios. Pilot Osman Chilekli survived the fall of the aircraft, and the body of the copilot of Nail Erdogan was never found. Only sixteen years later, the Turkish Defense Minister admitted that their aircraft crashed the Greek "Mirage" air-to-air missile. Athens does not recognize the launch of the rocket and claims that the rotary aircraft was demolished because the pilots over it lost control during the maneuvering in a bid to compete with the Greek air force.
In May 2006, two airplanes F-16 Turkish and Greek air forces collided during airborne and maneuvering. Greek pilot Costas Iliakis was killed and Turkish pilot Khalil Ibrahim Ozdemir survived the crash and fall of his aircraft. During 2010, two Greek pilots died following the demolition of their aircraft in close competition with low-level maneuvering with Turkish combat aircraft.
A brief lament was made after an attempted coup against Turkish President Erdogan, because the entire Turkish army and the aviation were clearly occupied by internal reorganizations, but the activity was resumed already in October 2016.
A brief lament was made after an attempted coup against Turkish President Erdogan, because the entire Turkish army and the aviation were clearly occupied by internal reorganizations, but the activity was resumed already in October 2016.
Greek aviation raises its aircraft to intercept Turkey more than 1000 times a year. Turkish aviation flew directly across the Greek islands 3 times during 2011, 4 times in 2012, 11 times in 2013, 14 times in 2014, 36 times in 2015 and a record 57 times in 2016 . According to Greek sources only in 2009, the Greek airspace was injured 1679 times, and Greek and Turkish pilots intercepted at the border of combat operations 237 times. In nearly 15% of cases, pilots tried to catch the enemy in their air-to-air missile fire control system. In 2015, Greece's airspace, according to Athens, was injured 1375 times, and in addition, 135 Turkish airplanes were armed with missiles and in combat readiness. During 2016, Greece's airspace was injured 1671 times. In each of these cases, the Greeks raised their combat aircraft in order to intercept Turkish aircraft. By comparison, in 2018, NATO was raising aircraft in 780 times due to the deployment of Russian aircraft flying near NATO airspace. According to Greek claims, Turkish air strikes, which they consider to be theirs continue to escalate, so that in 2017, there were recorded 3317 cases. Until April 2018, Turkish combat aircraft entered the declared Greek airspace 920 times.
One of the problems encountered by Greek aviation is the fact that, unlike them, Turkish aviation has a fleet of air tankers that enable Turkish aircraft to refuel in flight, so that they can enter the Greek airspace over a period of one year. The Greek Air Force must re-launch a new pair of combat aircraft every time. How a flight hour of a Greek combat aircraft, depending on the type, amounts to 8 to 12 thousand euros, ultimately it turns into a large amount of money that burdens the military budget.
There is no reason to believe that the bidding of Greek and Turkish combat aircraft over the Aegean Sea will soon be interrupted. The relations of the two NATO members are still strained, and it is only hoped that day-to-day incidents will not lead to a drastic event that could make the hump in the sky above the Aegean Sea to the brink of war.
There is no reason to believe that the bidding of Greek and Turkish combat aircraft over the Aegean Sea will soon be interrupted. The relations of the two NATO members are still strained, and it is only hoped that day-to-day incidents will not lead to a drastic event that could make the hump in the sky above the Aegean Sea to the brink of war.
Original Article in Serbian language
Translated using google translate