UPDATED - SEE BOTTOM -- Within the past few minutes,
Russia/Syria fired an S-300 surface-to-air missile from a base at Tartus,
Syria, westward out into the Mediterranean Sea.
The S-300 is one of the most fearsome, accurate, and
deadly interceptor missiles in the world. It does not miss.
No word yet on what has been shot down.
UPDATE 5:35 PM EDT --
The Pentagon confirms the aircraft carrier USS George
H.W. Bush is operating in the Mediterranean and has aircraft which are airborne
conducting flight operations. No indication at all if the Bush or any of its
planes were the target for the missile launch.
UPDATE 6:32 PM EDT --
Still not one word about what was fired upon or shot
down. Checking all my sources repeatedly. . .
UPDATE 11:46 PM EDT --
Reports are now coming in that a United
States Air Force EQ-4 "Global Hawk" drone was shot down over the
Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Syria, by a Russian S-300 surface-to-air
missile fired from the Russian Base at Tartus, Syria.
I contacted the Pentagon Press Office after-hours phone
via Text message to seek their comment(s) for this story, but they did not
reply.
The EQ-4 with a wingspan of more than 130 feet, (roughly
the same as a 737 airliner) is the the Air Force's largest drone.
The Air Force has more than 30 RQ-4
surveillance drones, but only three EQ-4s fitted with Northrop
Grumman's Battlefield Airborne Communications Node (BACN).
BACN is a high-altitude, airborne communications and
information gateway system that maintains operational communications support 24
hours a day, seven days a week. The persistent connectivity that BACN provides
improves situational awareness and enables better coordination between
forward-edge warfighters and commanders. BACN bridges and extends voice
communications and battlespace awareness information from numerous sources
using a suite of computers and radio systems.
After the BACN payloads have been integrated on Block 20
Global Hawks, the aircraft are designated as USAF EQ-4B unmanned systems,
providing long endurance and high persistence gateway capabilities.
All of the EQ-4 aircraft are assigned to the 386th Air
Expeditionary Wing based at Al Dhafra Air Base in the United Arab Emirates.
If this information that the Russians shot down an EQ-4
Global Hawk is accurate, then US Troops operating on the ground with
Syrian "Rebels" will no longer be able to INSTANTLY talk to nearby
air support as was done a few days ago, when a US F/A-18 was called-in to
attack and destroy a Syrian Arab Army Air Force fighter jet.
This type of shoot down would severely hamper US future
operational ability in Syria because there are only a total of three EQ-4's in
existence.
To outfit one RQ-4 with the BACN (thereby turning it into
an EQ-4) costs about twenty-two million dollars.
Such a shoot down by Russia would be pricey retaliation
over the US Shoot-down of a Syrian Jet, without causing the US to feel a need
to avenge anything; like a pilot.
As shown below, the cost of a Global Hawk Drone is a
MINIMUM of $131 Million, but with R&D, the Unit Cost can be as high as $222
Million -- plus the BACN for another $22 Million.
It would send a Russian message to the US not to shoot
down anymore Syrian government aircraft.
If the Pentagon Press office responds to my inquiry, this
story will be further updated.
12:04 AM EDT June 22, 2017
Source: halturnershow.com
Russia Targets US Spying Plane over Syrian
Waters
Sat Jun 24, 2017 7:21
Social media activists in Tartus port city reported that
the Russian anti-aircraft missile units opened fire at a US spying plane in the
Mediterranean Sea on Thursday.
As the Russian missile units started anti-air operation,
unconfirmed reports said that the Russian missiles targeted a RQ 4 Global Hawk
drone of the US army.
The Mirnov'vestiyeh daily reported that the US possibly
planned to gather intel on the Russian anti-aircraft system in Tartus port and
Humeimim base by using RQ 4 Global Hawk drone that is an expensive spying plan.
The daily added that it is very strange that news went
viral about missing of a similar drone over California on Thursday morning.
A NATO F-16 fighter jet tried to approach the Russian
defense minister’s plane above the neutral waters of the Baltic Sea On
Wednesday.
The plane was warded off by a Russian Su-27 escorting the
minister’s aircraft, according to journalists who were on board.
The Russian plane was en route to the city of
Kaliningrad, a Western Russian exclave between Poland and Lithuania on the
Baltic Sea, where Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu was scheduled to discuss
security issues with defense officials on Wednesday, RT reported.
While one NATO aircraft tried to approach the Russian
airplane, a Russian Su-27 fighter jet got in its way and tilted its wings,
apparently showing its arms, according to RIA Novosti and TASS journalists who
were on board. The F-16 then flew away.
Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that he has no
information about the incident.
“It’s probably better to ask the Defense Ministry,”
Peskov said in answer to journalists’ questions.
On Monday a US RC-135 spy plane flying toward the Russian
border made a “provocative turn” toward a Baltic Fleet Su-27, which had been
scrambled for an interception mission.
The encounters of Russian and US warplanes over the
Baltic Sea waters have apparently become more frequent lately. A Russian
fighter jet intercepted a small group of US warplanes, including Boeing KC-135
Stratotanker military refueling aircraft, two B-1 bombers and one B-52, during
the BALTOPS (Baltic Operations) annual training exercise on June 10.
Earlier in June, the Russian military intercepted another
B-52 bomber in the same area, and escorted by an Su-27 fighter away from
Russian territory.
Source: farsnews.com
As usual the USA covered the news with a story that the Drone crashed in California..........
RQ-4 Global Hawk
The RQ-4 Global Hawk is a high-altitude, long-endurance,
remotely piloted aircraft with an integrated sensor suite that provides global
all-weather, day or night intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR)
capability. Global Hawk's mission is to provide a broad spectrum of ISR
collection capability to support joint combatant forces in worldwide peacetime,
contingency and wartime operations. The Global Hawk provides persistent
near-real-time coverage using imagery intelligence (IMINT), signals intelligence
(SIGINT) and moving target indicator (MTI) sensors.
Global Hawk began as an Advanced Concept Technology
Demonstration in 1995. The system was determined to have military utility and
provide warfighters with an evolutionary high-altitude, long-endurance ISR
capability. The Global Hawk has been
deployed operationally to support overseas contingency operations since
November 2001.
In the RQ-4 name, the "R" is the Department of
Defense designation for reconnaissance and "Q" means unmanned
aircraft system. The "4" refers to the series of purpose-built
remotely piloted aircraft systems. The "E" in EQ-4 delineates the
communication configuration of the BACN equipped aircraft.
General Characteristics
Primary function: high-altitude, long-endurance ISR
Contractor: Northrop Grumman (Prime), Raytheon, L3 Comm
Power Plant: Rolls Royce-North American F137-RR-100
turbofan engine
Thrust: 7,600 pounds
Wingspan: 130.9 feet (39.8 meters)
Length: 47.6 feet (14.5 meters)
Height: 15.3 feet (4.7 meters)
Weight: 14,950 pounds (6,781 kilograms)
Maximum takeoff weight: 32,250 pounds (14628 kilograms)
Fuel Capacity: 17,300 pounds (7847 kilograms)
Payload: 3,000 pounds (1,360 kilograms)
Speed: 310 knots (357 mph)
Range: 12,300 nautical miles
Endurance: more
than 34 hours
Ceiling: 60,000 feet (18,288 meters)
Armament: None
Crew (remote): three (LRE pilot, MCE pilot, and sensor
operator)
Initial operating capability: 2011 (Block 30); 2015
(Block 40)
Inventory: active force, 33 (three more Block 30s
purchased, to be fielded in 2017)
Source: af.mil