The “x-ray” of the Turkish challenges in the air

Breaches within 2022 have skyrocketed and already reach 6678 although there are now three months to go in the year, compared to just 2744 last year.

The “radiography” of the Turkish provocations over the Aegean over the last few days as assessed by the Air Staff demonstrates in the most telling way the intentions of the neighbors. Daily overflights over Greek islands mainly by unmanned UAVs, barrages of violations and communication use of TuAF fighters now make up the daily picture that the Air Force has to face.

The Turkish Bayraktar and Anka now fly for almost the entire 24 hours, even during the night and “mark” areas and islands within the Athens FIR. While TuAF fighters take off most of the time in fours in an attempt by the neighbors to show a “pulse” and reaction to the information about very low availability of F-16s which barely reaches 50%.

However, despite the fact that Ankara is sending its fighters to the Aegean, both the numbers and the image conveyed by the Greek pilots show that the Turkish pilots are instructed to avoid engagement with HAF aircraft as much as possible, except in specific cases.

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Breaches within 2022 have soared and already reach 6678 although there are now three months to go in the year, compared to just 2744 last year. In 2020 – the year of the crisis with Turkey – they reached 4605. The numbers show that the neighbors now want a permanent “presence” over the Aegean in an entrenched state of dispute. Their intention is supported in the best way by the cheap long-hour flights of unmanned UAVs within the Greek FIR. It is characteristic that of today’s 63 violations, 60 were carried out by a single UAV which flew over Kinaro once more, while only 3 from the four F-16s that entered the morning over the Archipelago.

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And while Ankara seems to be escalating the tension, the evidence reveals that the engagements of the Turkish F-16s with the Greek fighters are not in keeping with the incendiary climate cultivated by the neighbors. Only 179 engagements have so far been recorded within 2022 with the “blue” wings, while in 2020 they had reached 423. In most cases, the Turkish pilots when they are recognized and intercepted by the Greek fighters do not react but instead leave without a “fight” and they fly simply to make their presence known. Even when “locked” by the radars and guns of HAF fighters they rarely turn to engage in virtual air combat. The comparison that the involvement will bring seems to be faced with hesitation and even fear since they know very well that the result will be a foregone conclusion and they will find themselves in a “kill” situation.

The neighbors’ anxiety towards the deterrent power of our Air Force seems to be even more intense now after the acquisition of the first French Rafales and the upgrade of 83 F-16s to Vipers. In the last few days, the Turkish media, although they were not used to it until now, show the Greek fighters, while their analysts do not hesitate to speak of a clear advantage of the HAF, especially when Greece also acquires the F-35 Stealth fighter, which Turkey lost through her hands.

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