Israeli F-16 shot down over Syria after responding to a drone incursion.

An Israeli F-16. BBC/Getty. 

An Israeli F-16 has been shot down over Syria after an attack on Iranian targets. BBC. The F-16 was hit with anti-air fire and the pilots were forced to eject. The managed to land in Israeli territory and survived. The incident occurred after an Israeli combat helicopter intercepted an Iranian UAV. As a response to that the Israelis launched airstrikes targeting the Iranian forces. 

My Comment:

I don't often talk about Israel due to peoples strong opinions on the country, but I thought this was an interesting story. It's fairly rare for anyone to lose and F-16 to ground fire so I thought it was worth noting. It is also rare for an attack helicopter to intercept a UAV as well, so this was just an odd story. 

The BBC article wasn't clear but other sources have said that the drone was destroyed by the attack helicopter. If true then this is a very rare case of an attack helicopter getting an air to air kill. It has happened before with helicopters taking down manned and unmanned aircraft but it is extremely uncommon. I personally would love to see the gun cam footage of this, but I doubt it will be released.

It is also very rare for an F-16 to be shot down. It is unclear how this happened exactly. The articles certainly seem to imply that this was a lucky hit from a flack cannon or truck. If so, that is a fairly impressive shot. It could also have been from a MANPAD or, even more seriously, a more advanced air defense weapon. If so it just goes to show how dangerous the skies over Syria can be. With the Israelis and Russians both losing jets in quick succession, it makes me wonder if it will happen to one of our jets as well...

The pilots are extremely lucky that there were able to land in Israeli territory. I can't think of anyone that the various factions on the ground in Syria would rather get a hold of than a pair of Israeli pilots. The best case scenario their would be capture by the Syrian government who would hold them as bargaining chips. Other factions would either kill the pilots on the spot or execute them on film. I am glad that didn't happen here. 

As for the greater importance of this story, I don't think there isn't much of one. It seems like status quo ante for all involved. I doubt the Syrians will make a huge deal out of responding to the strikes and I doubt Israel will refrain from attacking Iranian targets in Syria. It is a propaganda coup for Iran and Syria but that's about all this is. In the end it will be a small footnote in the Syrian war notable only for the fact that Israel was involved in it.