Solo Turk, the Turkish Air Force’s aerobatic team, flies its F-16 fighters over Istanbul’s new airport on September 20, 2018 in Istanbul. (Ozan Kose/AFP/Getty Images/TNS) (Ozan Kose/AFP)
A Greek air defense missile locked on Turkish F-16 fighter jets flying in international airspace over the Mediterranean, Turkey’s Defense Ministry said in a statement.
Greece’s Russian-made S300 air defense system on the island of Crete locked onto Turkish planes on August 23 as they flew over the Mediterranean, the statement said. Last week, Turkey made a similar accusation against the Greek military.
Turkey was trying to spread “fake news”, and no such incident took place, a Greek defense ministry official said. The ministry also disputed Turkey’s account of the previous incident, saying in an August 23 statement that four of its F-16 fighter jets rushed in from Greece to intercept five Turkish planes that interfered with the route. of a group of American B-52s which had clearance to fly over Greek airspace.
The dispute comes as tensions between the two NATO countries are once again on the rise. Turkey alleges that military forces on some Greek Aegean islands exceed agreed limits and there is also an ongoing dispute over Turkey’s natural gas exploration in the Mediterranean in waters which are also claimed by Cyprus and Greece.
Radar lock means that the radar system of a missile or fighter aircraft automatically tracks a selected target, tracking its flight so it can strike accurately. They are common in simulated dogfights between countries that are not at war, where fighter pilots clash by targeting their rivals, but refrain from firing.
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