First confirmed shooting down of an Aircraft in Syria by SAM

Cork boy 55

Major danger to Aviation has arisen as a result of the Libya and Syria conflicts
large numbers of SAMs are on the weapons black market or in hands of rebels
some of whom are militant jihadists.

Today Video has been released showing first confirmed shooting down of an Aircraft by a SAM in Syria.
It looks like a transport helicopter(MI-8 i think) over Aleppo
The Chopper survived the hit intact but on fire and manged a crash landing
but at that stage fire is too big I doubt there where survivors


Lets hope than Civil Aviation does not find itself a target in future.

edit
I have added a middle video which shows a parachute coming out of helocopter

SAM hits

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kPAVv837seA

Helo crash landing + parachute

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7XdtH-G6J0o

Helo crash landing

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iflPhAsk5Lg

Dogwatch

I would disagree with your analysis of that video.

Yes, the helo is hit by a missile but appears to be under control even though
smoke and some flame is seen coming it.

The video is too poor to decide if the landing was survivable.

More independent information is needed to take it any further.

Run_to_da_hills

Deployment of Patriots in Turkey means no-fly zone for Syria.

This type of news is worrying.

Sounds great until a commercial aircraft is shot down.

It happened before.

shedweller

Impressive armour plating on that helo. I was full sure it would have come apart from the sam.

Rodin

They don't half repeat themselves

Rebelkell

Bulls eye!!!!!!!!!!!!

Tenger

Run_to_da_hills wrote: »

Deployment of Patriots in Turkey means no-fly zone for Syria.

This type of news is worrying.

Turkey are saying the Patriots are to be used to prevent rocket attacks into it territory. Dutch units deployed in 2003 I believe. Patriot is primarily a defensive system. Can it really be used as a SAM to enforce a No-Fly area?

Cork boy 55

Tenger wrote: »

Turkey are saying the Patriots are to be used to prevent rocket attacks into it territory. Dutch units deployed in 2003 I believe. Patriot is primarily a defensive system. Can it really be used as a SAM to enforce a No-Fly area?

Yes it is for intercepting missiles although you could use it as a SAM i think
But Turkey has it owns SAMs and fighters
it wants the Patriot so it have a shield against Assad missiles
Assad has a lot of missiles like scuds and chemical warheads

I am guessing that Turkey is about to escalate its support to the insurgents
to overt and large scale assistance which would be fatal to regime and is afraid that Assad or some element in Regime in revenge as final sting might launch scuds and stuff at Turkey.

Logical analysis
why get a missile shield unless you a expecting a missile attack?
why would they be expecting an missile attack in near future?

Answer
They are going to back the FSA big time in near future.

Cork boy 55

Rebels shot down a fighter jet with a SAM in same area yesterday
Also it is reported that the Damascus international airport is closed due to fighting close by.

shedweller

I think this has footage of the downed mig. The helo shot down is in the first half of this clip:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ELJC0wKSy4

Here's a link with a few videos linked in it:http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2012/11/28/166093048/syrian-rebels-claim-they-shot-down-fighter-jet-with-a-missile

Cork boy 55

Main Airport closed and internet off for 3 days
and now a lone SYR flight has taken off for Moscow
there are unconfirmed rumors of VIP's aboard Damascus-Moscow flight
The only flight that's left Syria in around 48 hours, and its going to Moscow,


Flight info for RB441 / SYR441 - Syrian Arab Airlines
Syrian Arab Airlines flight from Damascus, Damascus (DAM) in Syria to Moscow, Vnukovo (VKO) in Russia
http://www.flightradar24.com/data/flights/rb441/

Franticfrank

It was widely reported in the news that the rebels managed to take over a barracks with a warehouse full of Soviet manpads. I wonder what will happen to these whenever the fighting ends?

Cork boy 55

Franticfrank wrote: »

It was widely reported in the news that the rebels managed to take over a barracks with a warehouse full of Soviet manpads. I wonder what will happen to these whenever the fighting ends?

They really really need them in the fight so hopefully they we will use up all the ones that work. Also hopefully the regime will have learned it lesson and destroys all remaining stocks of MANAPDS if they are in danger of being overrun

They don't appear to have captured a large number in full working order
(They require working electronic and battery components to be assembled to
into a fully working one).
I am basing this on the the fact regime helicopters and aircraft are still operating albeit at a lower tempo than before and there have been only a handful of confirmed successful missiles strikes.


-

There is a half dozen government air bases in Syria that are now cut-off and under siege by rebels in the north and east and being resupplied by Air.
The rebels seem to lack enough munitions and heavy weapons to overrun them so they just lay siege and wear them down.

Aircraft on the resupply route have to run a gauntlet of AAA and machine guns in order to get in there. Some of them don't make it.

This is from Taftanaz airbase it shows a brave pilot of an Mi-8 trying to land under fire from AAA It disappears behind a ridge and then lot of smoke is seen

This is from Deir Ezzor military Airbase in the east it shows
what is claimed to be a Syrian Air Yak-40 airliner landing under AAA fire. It looks like its on fire at 1:05
Another video shows lots of smoke after the landing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zo4dNb2tXu0

cameramonkey

Cork boy 55 wrote: »

They really really need them in the fight so hopefully they we will use up all the ones that work. Also hopefully the regime will have learned it lesson and destroys all remaining stocks of MANAPDS if they are in danger of being overrun

They don't appear to have captured a large number in full working order
(They require working electronic and battery components to be assembled to
into a fully working one).
I am basing this on the the fact regime helicopters and aircraft are still operating albeit at a lower tempo than before and there have been only a handful of confirmed successful missiles strikes.


-

There is a half dozen government air bases in Syria that are now cut-off and under siege by rebels in the north and east and being resupplied by Air.
The rebels seem to lack enough munitions and heavy weapons to overrun them so they just lay siege and wear them down.

Aircraft on the resupply route have to run a gauntlet of AAA and machine guns in order to get in there. Some of them don't make it.

This is from Taftanaz airbase it shows a brave pilot of an Mi-8 trying to land under fire from AAA It disappears behind a ridge and then lot of smoke is seen

This is from Deir Ezzor military Airbase in the east it shows
what is claimed to be a Syrian Air Yak-40 airliner landing under AAA fire. It looks like its on fire at 1:05
Another video shows lots of smoke after the landing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zo4dNb2tXu0

That shooting at the helicopter is some of the worst anti aircraft gunnery I have ever seen. It just shows up how badly trained these guys are. Any half trained person would have downed that chopper in a fraction of the time.

Franticfrank

That shooting at the helicopter is some of the worst anti aircraft gunnery I have ever seen. It just shows up how badly trained these guys are. Any half trained person would have downed that chopper in a fraction of the time.

Well, they did manage to shoot it down in the end. And looking at the video of the Mi8 getting struck by the SAM, it can obviously take a lot of punishment. Still, that was a target served up on a plate, slow, straight and level. Surprised the pilot didn't attempt any form of evasive action.

cameramonkey

Franticfrank wrote: »

Well, they did manage to shoot it down in the end. And looking at the video of the Mi8 getting struck by the SAM, it can obviously take a lot of punishment. Still, that was a target served up on a plate, slow, straight and level. Surprised the pilot didn't attempt any form of evasive action.

I dont think they did, it seems to go behind the hill in full control of the pilot. there is one hit visible when the tail is struck and there is a flash but that could have been from a smaller caliber weapon. I think the burning at the end is not the helicopter and could be a building on the hill. You can see where they are hitting, taking lumps out of buildings and the ground, if they had struck the aircraft you would have seen it. They are firing behind and in front so they are even not consistent with their misses.

Cork boy 55

Insurgents firing rifles at long range at an Airliner as it lands at Damascus
International Airport. dual use airport(militarily + civilian)

The internet tells me this is a Iranian air force Boeing.

The area around Damascus International Airport is a combat zone.
Civilian traffic is light and frequented disrupted AFAIK.

Some time Ago The insurgents (FSA) declared Damascus
International Airport and Aleppo International No fly zones

Bessarion

Read elsewhere that this apears to be B747-100 EP-AJT, which is currently the oldest B747 still operational worldwide and the 5th B747 ever built.

http://www.nycaviation.com/2013/02/video-syrian-fighters-shooting-at-an-airliner-nycaviation-investigates/#.UQxPbL9FXRE




On another note.....I'm not sure how effective their attempts could be.......effective range on an AK-74? a fast moving target at a higher elevation? apparently no proper aiming and/or fire control technique?
Seems like a dreadful waste of ammo to me.

Cork boy 55

FN-6 MANPADS(chinese made) are appearing in Syria in rebel hands
Whatever the wider debate about supplying them with Arms,
This is insane given the risk of proliferation and threat to civil aviation
They are other options for air defense for them which would have negated the risk to civil aviation.
Qatar needs to be spoken to IMO assuming of course all this is true.

on the plus side they appear to be pretty crap at shooting things done
“Most of the FN-6s that we got didn’t work,” he said. He said two of them had exploded as they were fired, killing two rebels and wounding four others."


New York Times
By C. J. CHIVERS and ERIC SCHMITT
Published: August 12, 2013

Syrian rebels, frustrated by the West’s reluctance to provide arms, have found a supplier in an unlikely source: Sudan, a country that has been under international arms embargoes and maintains close ties with a stalwart backer of the Syrian government, Iran.
In deals that have not been publicly acknowledged, Western officials and Syrian rebels say, Sudan’s government sold Sudanese- and Chinese-made arms to Qatar, which arranged delivery through Turkey to the rebels

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/13/world/africa/arms-shipments-seen-from-sudan-to-syria-rebels.html?partner=rss&emc=rss&_r=0