S-200 Syria.

This is coolbert:

From an Internet web site and the translation from Russian by Al some further info [excerpts] as per the shoot-down of the Russian Il-20 Coot reconnaissance warplane.

A hot topic and finally [?] we have some expert insight. And as copied  more or less in entirety the comments [from the translation] by the Russian officer [ex] Yuri Alexeev:

“Since I [Yuri] studied the S-200 system at military school and then served at it for many years, I can state the following: the Arabs could not have confused an F-16 with an IL-20…"

[as to Yuri being a real live person with the purported background I cannot say with any certainty.]

“All the surfaces of a jet plane reflecting the radar beam are immobile. That’s why the reflected signal formed by the plane’s several ‘hot spots’ has roughly the same frequency and looks like three adjacent vertical lines."

“On the other hand, due to the Doppler effect, a turboprop plane (its rotating propellers create various Doppler additions to the signal frequency) produces a signal in the shape of multiple vertical lines that fill practically the whole radar screen."

“Any training of radar operators and other crew members starts from explaining these very differences. I’m sure our instructors who trained the Arab crew did just that…"

“It has to be said that the S-200B system is complex to maintain and operate. All sorts of procedures are involved in launching a rocket…"

“If the crew managed to launch a missile, they were clearly trained and definitely knew the difference in the footprints of a jet and a turboprop plane…"

“There’s a theory that the Syrian crew followed and attacked an F-16 that then performed an evasive maneuver, pushing into the radar coverage our plane that has a much larger reflective surface. The missile re-targeted it automatically and a hit occurred."

“Yes, that’s possible – but only if our plane was ‘lit up’ by the radar. If there had been no reflected signal, the missile would have self-destructed. That means the Arabs had been tracking our plane and therefore saw the reflected signal on the radar screen."

“Moreover, to re- target, the operator had to switch manually to the automatic tracking of the new target…"

“In my [Yuri] opinion, the Arabs knew what they were tracking and launched a missile deliberately. This is a matter of ‘corporate ethics’."

“Losing a target is the worst thing that can happen to an AA [anti-aircraft] officer. When we were on duty, we were issued pistols. Being young, we’d ask our commanders what the guns were for. They’d reply that, if you lose a target, go and shoot yourself, to save the paperwork at the court martial.

“All personnel at AA missile systems knew that still having un-launched rockets after an enemy raid was a guaranteed death sentence for themselves. It’s likely that the Arabs had been imbued with that principle, so they fired at whatever they saw.”

[readers will recall from the First Gulf War seeing images of the sky over Baghdad during night raids by American combat warplanes. The entire sky filled with rounds AAA rounds being fired and various detonations occurring. Arab AAA crews tend to be quite trigger happy!!]

SYRIAN SURFACE-TO-AIR MISSILE FIRING PERSONNEL MANNING THE S-200 SYSTEM COULD NOT HAVE MISTAKEN THE ISRAELI F-16 FOR THE IL-20 COOT? THIS SHOOT-DOWN COULD NOT HAVE BEEN A CASE OF FRATRICIDE AND MISTAKEN IDENTITY!

As I have said before at least in my mind this all bears a resemblance to the Gulf of Tonkin incident from over fifty years ago now.

RATHER THE COOT INCIDENT IS A FALSE FLAG OPERATION INTENDED TO CREATE A CRISIS TO BE TAKEN ADVANTAGE OF? WHOA BOY!

You the devoted reader to the blog decide for yourself but do so with caution. Once more also thank you Al!

coolbert.