The Greek Air Force released on Tuesday a video showing a ‘dog fight” between a Greek Mirage 2000 and a Turkish F-16. The footage shows how the Mirage is chasing the F-16 in the sky over the eastern Aegean Sea.
The Turkish fighter jet had, furthermore, violated Greek air space and harassed a NH-90 military helicopter carrying the Defense Minister Nikos Panagiotopoulos and the Chief of General Staff, General Konstantinos Floros, to the islands of Oinousses, Agathonisi and Farmakonisi on Sunday, May 3, 2020.
The camera is installed on the Mirage cockpit, During the interception, the Greek fighter jet “locked” the F-16.
Video: Dog fight GR Mirage2000 vs TR F-16 over the Aegean
“I got him” the Greek pilot is heard saying after he ‘locked” the Turkish F-16.
Dialogue between the two Greek pilots:
PILOT 1: FOX 2* (AIM-2)
PILOT 2: I got him
PILOT 2: Another one coming (…)
PILOT 2: Recorded him on tape
PILOT 1: Nice
PILOT 2: Stable on GUNS
PILOT 2: SAME
*FOX 2 indicates the launch of an infra-red guided missile (AIM-2)
Aerial battles at close range (dog fights) like that between Greek and Turkish fighter jets are almost a daily practice over the Aegean Sea in the last two decades as Turkey sends its aircraft to claim sovereignty rights in the area.
The Turkish Foreign Ministry had dismissed the Greek harassment claiming the F-16 conducted just “routine flights.”
One president Biden gets in, Greece needs to formally warn and then use force, just as Turkey shot down a Russian plane, so they don’t return.
While at it, Greece also needs to extend its maritime borders to 12 miles like the rest of the world.
No matter who is in charge, either a radical change or war must end these unbearable provocations with Israeli and US support to minimize energies. This has gone on too long. Perhaps pair it all with the reclaiming of the illegal occupation of Cyprus to end all conflicts and dangers in the Eastern Med.