Turkish Air Force jets, most probably F-16s flying CAPs (Combat Air Patrols) along the Syria-Turkey border shot down an unidentified drone that had violated the Turkish airspace earlier today.
According to the information made available so far, the Turkish combat planes issued three warnings to the (unmanned) aircraft before shooting it down. The aircraft shot down was a really small model (resembling a Russian-made Orlan 10).
The TuAF F-16s were on a heightened alert status since the violations of the Turkish airspace conducted by Russian Air Force Su-30SM and Su-24 aircraft in the Hatay region on October 3 and 4, and subsequent radar lock by an “unidentified” Mig-29 on October 5.
Following these border skirmishes, the Turkish F-16s began responding to “MiG” radar locks by performing lock-ons on the aircraft “harassing” them. However, it’s quite likely considering the type of target, that the drone shot down today was hit with a gun strafe instead of a missile.
In September 2013, a TuAF F-16 shot down a Syrian Mi-17 that had violated the Turkish airspace.
On March 23, 2014 a SyAAF Mig-23 that violated the Turkish airspace by about 1 km was shot down by the F-16C 91-008 in CAP near the border.
http://theaviationist.com/2015/10/16/unidentified-drone-shot-down-by-tuaf/
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