Turkey to decommission RF-4E fighter jets after crashes

[Major Shaitan Singh]

Turkish Combat Air Force Commander Gen. Abidin Ünal announced on March 11 that the fleet of RF-4E fighter jets, which have been involved in three accidents in less than two weeks, killing six pilots, will be decommissioned as of March 12.

Speaking at the Combatant Air Force and Air Missile Defense Command, Ünal announce that the flights of the RF-4E jets would be terminated from March 12, the “war reconnaissance codes” tests of F-16 fighter jets were finalized on March 10.

Two Turkish RF-4E jets crashed during a training exercise in the eastern province of Malatya on Feb. 24, killing four soldiers. At the same time, the jet that Syrian air defenses downed on June 22, 2012, killing two Turkish soldiers, was also an RF-4.

Another F-4 fighter jet crash in the Central Anatolian province of Konya on March 5 killed two Turkish pilots, leading to question marks over the continued use of the jets. This F-4 jet was a modernized version of the RF-4.

The Turkish Air Forces fleet has eight of the RF-4E fighter jets in its inventory, which will be decommissioned as of March 12.

The last flights on these jets will be conducted by Turkish Air Force Commander Gen. Akın Öztürk and Ünal.

Meanwhile, the military plans to keep the controversial F-4 fighter jets, which are the modernized version of RF-4s, in use until 2020.

On March 10, Defense Minister İsmet Yılmaz said the latest jet crash was likely caused by pilot error, even though the report on the accident was not yet complete. Yılmaz had also stated that the F-4’s would remain in use until 2020.

Turkey to decommission RF-4E fighter jets after crashes - LOCAL

 

[Hindustani78]

Sabotage probe launched after damaged cables detected in Turkish military aircrafts - LOCAL
Friday,March 20 2015

The detection of damaged cables on two separate aircrafts at an İzmir airbase has triggered suspicion of a sabotage attempt, and an investigation has been opened.

Military prosecutors launched a probe after a cut cable was found in a jet during a final check before its flight two months ago.

Following the first incident, two noncommissioned officers were tasked with conducting a technical check on another jet on Feb. 9, discovering that cables part of the landing gears under both aerofoils were cut. The officers, who knew about the first incident, notified their commanders about the second.

The two were taken into custody as suspects and then sent to a military court, with demands for their arrest on charges of deliberately damaging military property.

The court released the officers, stating that there was no verbal or written evidence for the claims.

Murat Ergün, the lawyer of the two sergeants, declined to comment on the case because the investigation is still ongoing.

A Turkish Air Force F-4E jet crashed in the Central Anatolian province of Konya on the morning of March 5, two weeks after two others crashed during a training exercise on Feb. 24 in the Eastern Anatolian province of Malatya. Six pilots were killed in the two accidents.

Turkey has the second largest armed forces in NATO and in recent years its fighter jets have played an active role in patrolling its troubled borders with neighboring Iraq and Syria.