The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21 is a supersonic jet fighter and interceptor aircraft, designed by the Mikoyan-Gurevich Design Bureau in the Soviet Union. It was popularly nicknamed "balalaika", from the aircraft's planform-view resemblance to the Russian stringed musical instrument or ołówek by Polish pilots due to the shape of its fuselage. It was also nicknamed "Én bạc" by North Vietnamese, now Vietnam People's Air Force, pilots and the Vietnamese people.
The Israeli Air Force operates as the aerial warfare branch of the Israel Defense Forces. It was founded on May 28, 1948, shortly after the Israeli Declaration of Independence. As of August 2017 Aluf Amikam Norkin serves as the Air Force Commander.
The NPO Almaz S-200 Angara/Vega/Dubna, NATO reporting name SA-5 Gammon, is a very long range, medium-to-high altitude surface-to-air missile (SAM) system designed in the 1960s to defend large areas from bomber attack or other strategic aircraft. Each battalion has 6 single-rail missile launchers for the 10.8 m (35 ft) long missiles and a fire control radar. It can be linked to other, longer-range radar systems.
The Delilah missile is a cruise missile or loitering munition developed in Israel by Israel Military Industries (IMI). It is designed to target moving and re-locatable targets with a circular error probable (CEP) of 1 metre. Unlike a typical cruise missile, which is locked onto a pre-programmed target prior to launch, the Delilah missile's unique feature, as claimed by the manufacturer, is being able to loiter and surveil an area before a remote weapon systems officer, usually from the launching fighter aircraft, identifies the specific target of the attack.
The Syrian Air Defense Force (SyADF), officially the Syrian Arab Air Defense Force, is an independent command within the Syrian Armed Forces. The SyADF is one of the most powerful and combat tested air defence forces in the region.
The General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon has served the United States and the air arms of 25 other nations. Over 4,400 F-16s have been sold.
The History of the Israel Air Force begins in May 1948, shortly after the formation of the State of Israel. Following Israel's declaration of independence on May 14, its pre-state national institutions transformed into the agencies of a state, and on May 26, 1948, the Israeli Air Force was formed. Beginning with a small collection of light aircraft, the force soon transformed into a comprehensive fighting force. It has since participated in several wars and numerous engagements, becoming what has been described as "The mightiest air force in the Middle East".
The spillover of the Syrian Civil War is the impact of the Syrian Civil War in the Arab world. Since the first protests during the Arab Spring, the increasingly violent Syrian Civil War has been both a proxy war for the major Middle Eastern powers, Turkey and Iran, and a potential launching point for a wider regional war. Fears of the latter were realized when the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), a Salafi Jihadist militant group and alleged former al-Qaeda affiliate, established itself in Syria in 2013, and later combined with the Iraqi Civil War into a single conflict the following year. The spillover of the Syrian Civil War is often dubbed as the Arab Winter.
Several incidents have taken place on the Israeli–Syrian ceasefire line during the Syrian Civil War, straining the relations between the countries. The incidents are considered a spillover of the Quneitra Governorate clashes since 2012 and later incidents between Syrian Army and the rebels, ongoing on the Syrian-controlled side of the Golan and the Golan Neutral Zone and the Hezbollah involvement in the Syrian Civil War. Through the incidents, which began in late 2012, as of mid-2014, one Israeli civilian was killed and at least 4 soldiers wounded; on the Syrian-controlled side, it is estimated that at least ten soldiers were killed, as well as two unidentified militants, who were identified near Ein Zivan on Golan Heights.
Khmeimim Air Base, also Hmeimim Air Base is a Syrian airbase currently operated by Russia, located south-east of the city of Latakia in Hmeimim, Latakia Governorate, Syria. The airbase shares some airfield facilities with Bassel Al-Assad International Airport. The legal status of the base is regulated by a treaty Russia and Syria signed in August 2015. At the end of 2017, Russia said it had decided to turn the Khmeimim base into a component of its permanent military contingent stationed in Syria.
A Turkish Air Force F-16 fighter jet shot down a Russian Sukhoi Su-24M attack aircraft near the Syria–Turkey border on 24 November 2015. According to Turkey, the aircraft—whose nationality was unknown at the time—was fired upon while in Turkish airspace because it violated the border up to a depth of 2.19 kilometres for about 17 seconds after being warned to change its heading 10 times over a period of five minutes before entering the airspace. The Russia Defence Ministry denied the aircraft ever left Syrian airspace, counter-claiming that their satellite data showed that the Sukhoi was about 1,000 metres (1,100 yd) inside Syrian airspace when it was shot down. The U.S. State Department said that the U.S. independently confirmed that the aircraft's flight path violated Turkish territory, and that the Turks gave multiple warnings to the pilot, to which they received no response and released audio recordings of the warnings they had broadcast. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan pointed out that Turkey had the right to defend its airspace. Russian president Vladimir Putin said that the U.S. knew the flight path of the Russian jet and should have informed Turkey; two U.S. officials said that Russia did not inform the U.S. military of its jet's flight plan.
The March 2017 Israel–Syria incident took place on 17 March 2017, when Israeli Air Force struck a target in Syria. In response the Syrian Army fired several S-200 missiles at Israeli jets above Golan Heights. Israel reported that one Syrian missile had been shot down by an Arrow 2 missile, while none of its aircraft had been damaged. Israel stated it was targeting weapon shipments headed toward anti-Israeli forces, specifically Hezbollah, in Lebanon, while the Syrian Army claimed that a military site near Palmyra had been struck.
On 10 February 2018, an Israeli F-16I was shot down by the Syrian air defenses after conducting an air raid on Iran-backed positions inside Syrian territory. The aircraft was part of a larger Israeli aerial dispatch which Israel said was sent in response to detection of an Iranian drone spying on Israel. Two hours after the downing of the jet, Israel began attacking additional targets inside Syria, including air defense sites and Iranian targets near Damascus. Israel stated it destroyed the Syrian military’s main command and control bunker. Iran dismissed the Israeli allegation of Iranian drone incursion into Israeli territory as "ridiculous" and a pro-Syrian military alliance said that Israel actually hit a drone base which was used in the fight against ISIS.
The following is a timeline of the Syrian Civil War from May to August 2018. Information about aggregated casualty counts is found at Casualties of the Syrian Civil War.
The May 2018 Israel–Iran clashes were a series of short military confrontations between Israeli and Iranian forces in Syria. On 10 May 2018 the Israeli military stated that Iranian forces in Syria launched 20 rockets against Israeli army positions on Western Golan Heights. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that the attack occurred after Baath, a town in the demilitarised zone, was bombarded by Israeli forces. According to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) some missiles were intercepted by Israel's Iron Dome system, while some fell short in Syrian territory.
Late on 17 September 2018, missile strikes that hit multiple targets in the Syrian government-controlled western Syria were conducted by the Israeli Air Force. The Israel Defense Forces accepted responsibility for the airstrikes the following day and expressed sorrow for the Russian plane, downed by Syria's air defenses. The strikes occurred a few hours after a Russo-Turkish agreement to create a demilitarized zone around Idlib Governorate was achieved, which postponed an imminent offensive operation by Syria′s forces and its allies. Later, a Russian plane was also struck, by a Syrian government S-200 missile.
The Ja'Din shootdown incident occurred on June 18, 2017 when a United States Navy F/A-18E piloted by Lt. Cmdr. Michael Tremel shot down a Syrian Air Force Su-22 Fitter with an AIM-120 AMRAAM missile after it attacked SDF positions in the town of Ja'Din just South of Tabqah. It would be the first time the US downed a manned aircraft since 1999 and the first with the F/A-18E variant. Tremel along with his wingman Lt. Cmdr. Jeff Krueger were assigned to strike fighter squadron VFA-87, deployed with the USS George H.W. Bush aircraft carrier, and were conducting close air-support for SDF forces near Raqqa alongside two F/A-18Cs assigned to VFA-37 when the incident occurred.
Iran–Israel conflict during the Syrian Civil War refers to the Iranian-Israeli standoff in and around Syria on the course of the Syrian conflict. With increasing Iranian involvement in Syria from 2011 the conflict shifted from proxy warfare into direct confrontation by early 2018.
