Israel downed 2 Syrian MiGs last September over sea
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Friday, February 11, 2005[/size] [font=Arial,Helvetica][size=-1]
Diplomatic sources said Israel Air Force F-16 multi-role fighters intercepted and downed two Syrian MiG-29 fighter-jets last year. The sources said the dogfight took place in September 2004 over the eastern Mediterranean Sea.[/size][/font]
[font=Arial,Helvetica][size=-1]This was the first engagement between Israeli and Syrian fighter-jets since the 1980s. The sources said the air battle took place when Israel Air Force fighter-jets buzzed the Syrian city of Latakia, a port used by Iran for the shipment of weapons to Hizbullah.[/size][/font]
[font=Arial,Helvetica][size=-1]The Washington-based Reform Party of Syria first provided details of the Israeli-Syrian dogfight. RPS said the air battle took place on Sept. 14, 2004, adding that both downed pilots were rescued by Syrian military helicopters, Middle East Newsline reported.[/size][/font]
[font=Arial,Helvetica][size=-1]RPS, quoting a European source, said the Israeli fighter-jets used an Israeli-origin Python-4 air-to-air missile to down one of the MiG-29s. The other Syrian MiG-29 was shot down by a U.S.-origin AIM-9M Sidewinder.[/size][/font]
[font=Arial,Helvetica][size=-1]The pilots of the MiG-29s were identified by RPS as Maj. Arshad Midhat Mubarak and Capt. Ahmad Al Khatib.[/size][/font]
[font=Arial,Helvetica][size=-1]Diplomatic sources said the Syrian losses led President Bashar Assad to accelerate efforts to procure advanced anti-aircraft systems from Russia. [/size][/font]
[font=Arial,Helvetica][size=-1]Syria has requested a range of anti-aircraft systems, including the SA-18, TOR-M1, S-300PMU2 and the S-400 systems.[/size][/font]
[font=Arial,Helvetica][size=-1]The most likely Russian sale to Damascus is that of the SA-18, the sources said. They said Russia would supply the first SA-18 short-range systems – either directly or through a third country – within several months.[/size][/font]
[font=Arial,Helvetica][size=-1]In January, Russia and Syria – overriding objections from Israel and the United States – agreed on the sale of the SA-18 to Damascus. Russian officials said the sale of the SA-18 would not violate any international arms agreement.[/size][/font]
[font=Arial,Helvetica][size=-1]"Russia has cooperated with Syria for decades, and my country is convinced that Syria has a strong right to get defensive weapons," Russian ambassador in Tunisia Aleksei Tserub said.[/size][/font]
