PKK shoots down Turkish AH-1 helicopter in South-East Turkey with a MANPAD

[MikeWB]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AME4o5avic0

That's a Russian-made '9K38 Igla' MANPAD.

I guess Russians are now reciprocating for Turks supplying MANPADS to tеrrоrіѕtѕ in Syria.

[rmstock]

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=935_1463223055

[MikeWB]

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=935_1463223055

From comments:

IGLA (2) launcher. The round thing on the front with that little "nipple" (thermal battery) on it distinguishes it from Strela launchers and the older IGLA1 [cylindrical thermal battery].
The crank he pulls is the activator for the seeker which is cooled down so (of course ignoring heat sources from the ground) the seeker can be aligned closely to the target. Pretty much like the javelin. I have no clue if the helicopter was a AH1 Cobra, the silhoutte looks like it. The nasty thing is that you can only detect a launch, but not the lock from a IR-seeking AA manpad - there is no outgoing signal other than the booster, which together with the radar signature can be detected. But IR missiles from THIS short range, no chance to detect in time, even with a automated system. And the operator also hid himself next to a tree, which concealed a bit of the launch and subsequent booster flare. All in all, a good shot but the crew had no chance.

I'll also add that the spinning sound you hear just before the launch is the missile's gyroscope spinning up.

[MikeWB]

ISTANBUL — They were used to stalk Russian helicopters in Afghanistan, and the United States has worked hard to keep them out of chaotic Syria. But now Kurdish guerrillas battling Turkey's security forces may now have shoulder-fired missiles — an acquisition analysts say will seriously challenge Turkish air power and potentially intensify fighting in the region.

On Saturday, media affiliated with the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), a leftist militant group battling the Turkish state, posted a video purporting to show a fighter downing a Cobra attack helicopter with a man-portable air-defense system — or MANPADS — in the mountains of southeastern Turkey on Friday morning. Arms observers said this is the first time they have seen PKK fighters successfully using MANPADS in their four-decade fight against the Turks.

About four minutes into the video, the fighter, clad in camouflage fatigues, crouches on a verdant hillside with the weapons system on his shoulder. When the launcher locks on its target — a helicopter whirring noisily on the horizon — the fighter stands to fire. The heat-seeking missile swoops through the air and strikes the Cobra's tail, sending the aircraft spinning and eventually crashing into the mountainside.

Turkish authorities on Friday had attributed the helicopter crash in Hakkari province to an unknown technical failure. The chopper had been dispatched, however, after the militants staged an attack that killed six Turkish soldiers in the area.

"There have been rumors of them having MANPADS in their arsenal, but nothing concrete," said Kyle Glen, co-founder of Conflict News, a website that collects information and images from conflict zones around the world.

"This is the first actual video evidence of their use inside Turkey that I have seen in several years," he said. "Turkey will have to escalate, which means the PKK will escalate in return. ... [It's a] bloody cycle."

The PKK has successfully used MANPADS before, including two 1997 strikes that downed two Turkish helicopters in northern Iraq, according to Charles Lister at the Middle East Institute in Washington. "There have been more recent alleged uses," Lister said, "but minimally documented."

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Turkey and the PKK have been locked in conflict for more than 40 years over autonomy for the millions-strong Kurdish minority. The Turkish government has long seen the Kurds, who maintain a separate culture and speak a different language, as a threat to the ethnic purity of the Turkish state.

The PKK, however, has carried out a number of bombings against both civilians and security forces throughout the conflict. Last year, a two-year-old truce between the two sides broke down, and the war reignited. Since then, PKK and other Kurdish guerrillas have killed hundreds of Turkish soldiers in clashes and other attacks, including suicide bombings.

But the use of a surface-to-air missile — which arms experts said is likely a Russian-made 9K38 Igla — is a new and troubling development. It's unclear where the militants, who maintain bases in both Turkey and Iraq, would have obtained the weapon system. But former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein was known to have acquired the same Russian-made system in the 1980s, as did Libyan strongman Moammar Gaddafi.

The successful attack "is a game changer" and "could lead to further escalation in the region," Aykan Erdemir, senior fellow at the D.C.-based Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, posted on Twitter.

Turkish officials did not respond to request for comment.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2016/05/14/kurdish-militants-just-challenged-turkish-air-power-in-a-major-way/

[rmstock]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/9K38_Igla was used.

That device runs with solid fuel, which results in a behavior
resembling a Chinese fireworks. The time from launch to hit is
ridiculous small. The Turkish chopper never had a chance, even if the
chopper had flare decoy equipment. This was a deadly ambush by the PKK
using a Russian made manpad. Tensions within Turkish forces have risen
and Russia has put the heat on.

Latest I heard is that Ukraine and Turkey now work together with their
Military forces :

"Ukraine and Turkey agreed on a joint military action plan in the Black Sea":
https://twitter.com/UKRINFORM/status/731351191158984704

[rmstock]

WORLD
Ukraine and Turkey to Deepen Defence Ties Says PM
By DAMIEN SHARKOV  On 5/13/16 at 6:35 PM
http://europe.newsweek.com/ukraine-and-turkey-deepen-defence-ties-says-pm-459729?rm=eu
   
   Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko shakes hands with Turkey's President Tayyip Erdogan after a signing ceremony in Kiev
   March 20, 2015. The two countries have pursued stronger ties in the wake of their deteriorating relationships with Russia.
   Gleb Garanich/Reuters

   Ukraine and Turkey are pursuing closer political and military ties,
   Ukrainian Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman said after a  meeting with
   Turkey's defence minister in Kiev.
   
   Both Ukraine and Turkey have signaled they would like to join the EU,
   and though Turkey is already a member of NATO Ukraine is not. The two
   countries have  sought closer political ties over the last year as
   their relationships with Russia have soured.
   
   Russia seized Ukraine's Crimea in 2014 and  pro-Russian forces continue
   to hold swathes of land in Ukraine's east. More recently Turkey's
   relations with Russia plummeted, following Turkey's decision to  shoot
   down a Russian jet performing airstrikes in Syria, which allegedly
   entered Turkish airspace.
   
   Groysman hailed the budding relationship, calling Turkey one of
   Ukraine's biggest partners and adding that a growing defence
   partnership with Turkey would improve Ukrainian security.
   
   "I believe that at the moment we are setting strong foundations for our
   co-operation in the fields of politics, economics and defence,"
   Groysman said.
   
   Ukrainian and Turkish ships have already engaged in a  handful of joint
   naval exercises in the Black Sea and the Sea of Marmara.
   
   Turkey's Minister of Defence, İsmet Yılmaz, said Turkey was committed
   to peace and harmony in Ukraine and estimated that annual trade between
   the two country reached $4 billion last year. The two countries intend
   to increase that figure to  $10 billion by 2019 and are in talks about
   signing a free trade deal.
   
   Ukraine-Turkey Relations    Volodymyr Groysman "

[MikeWB]

Turkey + Ukraine.... two losers team up. Both of them are screwed. Putin seems to set on destroying Turkey and is supporting Kurds heavily. And Ukies are just as fucked (if not more).

Also, this is from today:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ALhasw-Ox-4