ISIS downs Jordanian F-16, captures pilot

The Jordanian military military has confirmed the loss of an F-16AM over ISIS held territory. Images of the pilot being pulled out of a river, and of his identification cards have been posted online.

A video has also been posted that appears to show an SA-7 being fired, at what is allegedly the aircraft involved. It's not clear why the F-16 was in range of the missile.


foxtrotalpha.jalopnik.com...

Would a well trained pilot been able to evade such a missile? Or is this type of missile something we should be worried ISIS having?

a reply to: MystikMushroom

Normally they'd stay out of range and release weapons from far enough away it's not a threat.

An F-16, with a well trained pilot, that knows it's been fired, could get away from it. The key is that its an IR missile, which means no emissions to warn the pilot.

I hope he's able to keep his head in this situation but I gotta say... he's probably in for a worse hell than any of us can imagine.

is this one of the first combat losses for the f16? dont hear about to many of them getting shot down but hear about crashed every now and then or am i thinking of another platform?

originally posted by: Answer
he's probably in for a worse hell than any of us can imagine...

The same is true of ISIS...

Karma's a beach.

a reply to: RalagaNarHallas

There have been a fair share of F-16 combat losses in the airplane's history. Desert Storm, Deny Flight, and Iraqi Freedom have all seen F-16 shoot downs.

I wonder how much this shoot down will affect the employment of other coalition aircraft, such as the A-10, that fly within the range of these MANPADs...

originally posted by: MystikMushroom
Would a well trained pilot been able to evade such a missile? Or is this type of missile something we should be worried ISIS having?

"Well trained" is a relative term. Not all pilots are created equal, and not all training is equal.

SA-7 is a pretty basic weapon platform with a small engagement envelope (compared to, say, a Stinger). I think the maximum ceiling on it is a little over a mile, and it's range is something like a 1.5 miles.

It can only track targets from behind, so this pilot was flying pretty low and away from the attackers. With little to no warning that a missile was inbound, his options would've been limited and quickly gone down to nothing.

Hello everyone,

My question for this thread would be: who is supplying these kind of weapons to ISIS? The weapon market is not a commodity market, you need political connections at governmental level to be able to pry and bid into it, money alone would not suffice. So what country among the ones who are openly or not-so-openly opposing ISIS are in fact feeding its leaders with long-range weapons?

How many countries would have interest in using ISIS as a WEAPON within the geo political scenario and against other countries? At what price?

These answers, to me, are far more preoccupying that a small fundamentalist gang's talking about creating an Islamic Empire.
Thanks for your attention

a reply to: Zaphod58

It's not clear why the F-16 was in range of the missile.

Or what took them so long to shoot back.

But just maybe they are getting too deep into Syria for "Syria's" comfort.

If the jet was shot down by a larger and more advanced commandeered radar guided surface-to-air missile, than operational tactics changes may be even more severe.

'More severe' for that non ISIS threat…

a reply to: WilliamWAS

Iraq and Syria. SA-7s and other MANPADS systems similar are very common and they've captured quite a few bases and convoys as well as people that have joined them and brought weapons.

originally posted by: WilliamWAS


How many countries would have interest in using ISIS as a WEAPON within the geo political scenario and against other countries?

Israel

a reply to: WilliamWAS


Finding soviet/Russian weapons, which the SA-7 is, isn't all that hard in that part of the world. $100 and a pair of Levi's jeans will buy an awful lot of pretty much anything you want to get your hands on.

a reply to: intrptr

And you think that with all the equipment they took in Iraq, they left all the AA systems because they were too advanced?

a reply to: Zaphod58

And you think that with all the equipment they took in Iraq, they left all the AA systems because they were too advanced?

They? Who's they? Syrians have advanced AA weapons, too. The report is F16 down, who did it is conjecture, slanted towards western geopolitical "goals".

Video posted in the news article of the shootdown is NOT from this event. The full version of it was posted on YouTube in July of 2013....

a reply to: intrptr

Wait. I thought the goal was to destroy Syria. A Jordanian F-16 downed by ISIS doesn't advance that.

So you're trying to say that Syria parked an advanced AA system in the heart of ISIS held territory, who they were opposing, and ISIS just completely ignored it?

a reply to: CraftBuilder

So part of the 'tale' is fabricated. A good bet that the reason the "enemy" hasn't shot these weapons at US coalition jets is because they aren't supposed to.

Otherwise, how come they haven't? They are "known to have them".

a reply to: intrptr

Wow. So a news organization uses the wrong video and it's at least a partial fabrication suddenly. That's a hell of a leap.

How to you know they haven't? Reports of missing isn't a story, and since shortly after it started the air campaign has been largely ignored.