Photo Credit: Copyright-free images via Wikimedia
Su 24 (L) vs. Su 22

A friend sent me an email following the IDF civil defense downing of a Syrian Sukhoi warplane which, apparently, strayed about one mile into Israeli airspace.

My friend writes: I find it hard to understand why the press keep on presenting this photo of the downed Syrian…

The Sukhoi T-50 fifth generation test aircraft.
(Illustration photo)
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…and other pictures of this pointy nosed aircraft, when the truth is nothing like that. The downed warplane was a Syrian Sukhoi Su-22, an antiquated machine from the 1970s which looks like this (this one belongs to the Czech Republic Air Force):

Sukhoi Su-22

The Soviet Su 17 (1949) evolved in the late 1960s into the Su-20 and Su-22, and enjoyed a long career in the Soviet, and later Russian Air Force. It was widely exported to the Eastern Bloc, Arab, Angolan and Peruvian air forces.

The Syrian Air Force used Su-20/-22s to attack Israeli forces in the 1973 Yom Kippur War and the 1982 Lebanon War. Several Su-20/-22s were shot down by the Israeli Air Force. From mid-2012, in the Syrian civil war, Syrian Air Force Su-22s have been involved in combat operations against Syrian rebels.

H/T Hershy Worch


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David writes news at JewishPress.com.