mosze_zblisko_daleka
12.02.05, 22:36
Israel downed 2 Syrian MiGs
last September over sea
SPECIAL TO WORLD TRIBUNE.COM
Friday, February 11, 2005
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.
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.
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.
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.
The pilots of the MiG-29s were identified by RPS as Maj. Arshad Midhat
Mubarak and Capt. Ahmad Al Khatib.
Diplomatic sources said the Syrian losses led President Bashar Assad to
accelerate efforts to procure advanced anti-aircraft systems from Russia.
Syria has requested a range of anti-aircraft systems, including the SA-18,
TOR-M1, S-300PMU2 and the S-400 systems.
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.
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.
"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.
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