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| Greece Places Radar Lock on Turkey's F-16 Fighter Jet in NATO Mission |
Athens - Greece is known to place a radar lock on Turkish F-16 fighter jets on a NATO mission. The Turkish F-16s were tasked with protecting United States B-52s loaded with AIM-120 AMRAAM and AIM-9 Sidewinder air-to-air missiles.
The operation was carried out in Slovak airspace to protect NATO's eastern flank. However, during the operation, the Greek Air Force placed a radar lock on Turkish F-16 fighters serving in NATO. According to the information received, there was an immediate response to the blockade on Turkish fighter jets and Greek warplanes withdrawn from the region.
Quoted from Bulgarian Military, Turkey's Ministry of National Defense reported the incident to NATO authorities and the Greek military attache was eventually summoned to the ministry.
It should be noted that the Greek and Turkish air forces often clashed in the Aegean region and were involved in many battles. However, the event stands out more than others as Greece placed a radar lock on a Turkish F-16 fighter jet during a NATO mission.
The chronology begins as two German Tornado military planes take off at around 02:00 on August 21 for an A320 passenger plane departing from Turkey for Münster, Germany. The German Air Force was notified of the aircraft becoming unresponsive on the radio and unable to be radioed while in the airspace of the state of Bavaria. Two Tornado planes were immediately launched from the Fliegerhorst military airfield in Neuburg a der Donau.
Two planes arriving over the city at midnight reached the A320 from Turkey at a speed of 2,000 km per hour. One of the planes passed behind the passenger plane and the other began to fly next to it. Radio contact was then made with the A320. Although it said there were no other problems, the company did not elaborate further on the source of the problem. On the other hand, Greece and Turkey do have a bad relationship.
Quoted from The Hindu, Greece and Turkey have long had rival claims to the Aegean region. In fact, this put them on the brink of war because of past troubles. Earlier, Turkey accused Greece of establishing a military presence in violation of international agreements guaranteeing the unarmed status of the Aegean islands.
Meanwhile, Greece stated that Turkey had deliberately misinterpreted the agreement. Greece also added that it has a legal basis for self-defense.