A Russian maritime patrol aircraft with multiple personnel on board was inadvertently shot down by Syrian regime anti-aircraft artillery on Monday after the Syrians came under attack by Israeli missiles, according to a US official with knowledge of the incident
The US official said the regime was actually trying to stop a barrage of Israeli missiles. A second official confirmed that Israel was responsible for the missile strikes on the Syrian regime.
The Russian state news agency TASS reported that a Russian IL-20 military aircraft with 14 personnel on board disappeared over the Mediterranean on Monday. According to TASS, the ministry of defense specified that “the mark of IL-20 went off the radars disappeared during the attack of four Israeli F-16 aircraft on Syrian targets in the province of Latakia.”
https://www.cnn.com/2018/09/17/politics/syrian-regime-shoots-down-russian-plane/index.html
Looking for a more reliable source.
Then there’s this report:
Russian airspace control systems have registered missile launches from a French frigate in the Mediterranean on Monday, the Russian Defense Ministry reported.
The French Navy’s newest frigate, FS Auvergne, fired rockets around 8pm GMT Monday, the Russian military said. “Airspace control has recorded rocket launches from the French frigate Auvergne,” the ministry’s statement read. The Auvergne is deployed in the Mediterranean Sea, off the coast of Syria.
CNN and the “Deep State” at the Pentagon are not reliable sources.
I’ve been looking for the BBC story on this and they seem mum at this point.
Israel’s reporting is sparse with the “Haaretz” defense reporters writing a very terse story with none of the Russian aircraft aspect in it and as always no Israeli admission of the attack even though the Pentagon says they did it.
The plane was 35 miles off the coast. No Syrian anti air “artillery” has that range. Syrian S-200’s anti air missiles do, but they are supposed to be integrated with Russian air defense network.
I still think this is the most likely explanation, that the network failed somehow.