Originally Posted By: HerrStig
Originally Posted By: DuckRyder
One story I read states the Russian aircraft violated Turkish airspace 10 times in 5 minutes and was warned repeatedly according to the Turks. It also said the US is backing the Turks on that.
Some might say the Russian have been spoiling for just such an incident for some time...
Turkey is a member of NATO btw.
Russians recon aircraft violate our airspace on a regular basis. WE do not shoot them down. Even the Turkish military ought to be able to figure out what the Russians were doing and that there was no intentional violation of Turkish airspace if, in fact, there was any. If the Turks think WE are crazy enough to back them in THIS bushwhacking contest then we know where WWIII will start. The next escalation will be deploying some of their really good fighters as top cap for the bombers. Then, in the words of Fred Thompson (RIP) in Hunt for Red October... "This thing is going to get OUT OF CONTROL". BTW didn't someone claim to have hit the "reset" button on this? THere are already some SU 36 aircraft in Syria.
Russian aircraft have NOT violated our airspace.
Ever.
They have flown close to our coast, in international airspace.
They have flown over our forces. In international airspace.
They have harassed, annoyed, irritated and attempted to incite our forces.
But they haven't violated our national sovereignty.
I am with the Turks on this one: violate our airspace, you get warned. Continue violating it, you get engaged.
An airplane in your airspace is the same as a ship in your waters, or a soldier on your soil. It merits a response.