Turkish F-4 Activated Syrian Radar to Scope Out
Blind Spots

By Conn Hallinan
Foreign Poicy in Focus 
June 27, 2012

http://www.fpif.org/blog/turkish_f-4_activated_syrian_radar_to_scope_out_blind_spots

What was that Turkish F-4 Phantom II up to when
the Syrians shot it down?

Ankara said the plane strayed into Syrian airspace,
but quickly left and was over international waters
when it was attacked, a simple case of carelessness
on the part of the Turkish pilot that Syrian paranoia
turned deadly.

But the Phantom-eyewitnesses told Turkish
television that there were two aircraft, but there is
no official confirmation of that observation-was
hardly on a Sunday outing. According to the
Financial Times, Turkey's Foreign Minister, Ahmet
Davutoglu, told the newspaper "the jet was on a test
and training mission focused on Turkey's radar
defense, rather than Syria."

Translation: the F-4 was "lighting up" a radar net. It
is a common-if dangerous and illegal-tactic that
allows one to probe an opponent's radar system.
Most combat radar is kept in a passive mode to
prevent a potential enemy from mapping out
weaknesses or blind spots that can be useful in the
advent of an attack. The probes also give you
valuable information on how to neutralize anti-
aircraft guns and ground to air missiles.

"Lighting up" radar was what the US Navy EP-3E
Aries II was doing near China's Hainan Island when
it collided with a Chinese interceptor in 2001.
Nations normally take a very dim view of warplanes
entering their air space, particularly if there is
tension between the countries involved.

As a warplane, the F-4 is a pretty ancient. It was
introduced back in 1960, and became the mainstay
of the U.S. air war in Southeast Asia. In its day it
was a highly capable aircraft, able to hold its own
against interceptors like the MIG-21 in a dogfight,
and could also carry heavy bomb payloads. It was
also cheap and relatively trouble free, unlike the
current crop of US high performance aircraft.

It is doubtful that Syria identified exactly what the
Turkish plane was, just that an unidentified
warplane, flying low-generally the altitude one
takes when trying to avoid radar-was in Syrian
airspace. Paranoia? In 2007 Israeli warplanes-US-
made F-16s, not Phantoms-slipped through Syria's
radar net and bombed a suspected nuclear reactor.

Even if Syria identified the plane as a Phantom, they
could have taken it for an Israeli craft. Israel was
the number-one foreign user of F-4s, although they
retired them in 2004. Indeed, the Turkish Phantom
might even have begun life as an Israeli warplane.

If the Syrians are on hair-trigger alert, one can
hardly blame them. The US, the European Union
(EU), and NATO openly admit they are gunning to
bring down the Assad regime. Turkey is actively
aiding the Free Syrian Army to organize cross-border
raids into Syria, and it is helping Saudi Arabia and
Qatar supply arms and ammunition to the rebels.

For Turkey to send a warplane into Syrian
airspace-or even near the Syrian border-on a
radar-mapping expedition at this moment was either
remarkably provocative or stone stupid. The
explanation could be more sinister, however.

NATO has established a command and control
center in Iskenderun, Turkey, near the Syrian
border, that is training and organizing the Free
Syrian Army. It surely has a sophisticated setup for
tapping into Syrian electronic transmissions and, of
course, radar networks. If NATO eventually decides
to directly intervene in Syria, the alliance will need
those electronic maps. NATO aircraft easily
overwhelmed Libya's anti-aircraft systems, but
Syria's are considerably more sophisticated and
dangerous.

There are a number of things about the incident
that have yet to be explained. Turkey says the F-4
was 13 nautical miles from Syria when it was
attacked-which would put it in international
waters-but it crashed in Syrian waters. Damascus
claims the plane came down less than a mile from
the Syrian coast.

Turkey says one of its search planes was shot at as
well-the Syrians deny this-and has called for a
meeting of its NATO allies. So far, Ankara is only
talking about invoking Article Four of the NATO
treaty, not Article Five. Four allows for
"consultations"; Five would open up the possibility
of an armed response.

A thorough investigation of the incident seems in
order, although Turkey's Davutoglu says, "No matter
how the downed Turkish jet saga unfolds.we will
always stand by the Syrian people until the advent
of a democratic regime there." In short, regardless of
what happened, Turkey will continue to pursue
regime change in Damascus.

The Assad regime's heavy-handed approach to its
opponents played a major role in sparking the
current uprising, but the default position of regime
change by the EU and NATO has turned this into a
fight to the death. Assad is broadly unpopular, but
not universally so, and the support of the regime is
not limited to his own Islamic sect, the Alawites, or
other minorities, like the Christians.

Nor is all of the opposition a paragon of democratic
freethinking. The heavy role played by Saudi Arabia
and Qatar in supplying arms and money to the
rebels, means the deeply conservative Salafist sect
of Islam has a major presence in the resistance.
This is exactly how the Afghan mujahedeen mutated
into the Taliban and al-Qaeda.

The demand for regime change by the US, the EU,
and NATO torpedoed the United Nations effort for a
diplomatic solution. The Assad regime had no stake
in a peaceful resolution, since it would mean its
ouster in any case. And the opposition knew it need
not respect a ceasefire, since everyone who supports
them supports regime change.

It was into this situation that Turkey flew an F-4
Phantom through Syrian airspace. Exactly what did
Ankara think Syria would do? On the other hand,
maybe it knew exactly what Syria would do.

For more of Conn Hallinan's essays visit Dispatches
From the Edge
http://dispatchesfromtheedgeblog.wordpress.com/ .

Meanwhile, his novels about the ancient Romans
can be found at The Middle Empire Series
http://middleempireseries.wordpress.com/ .

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