Turkish F-100s
When the USAF phased out its F-100 Super Sabres from active service in 1972, many of the aircraft went to ANG units, Denmark, and Turkey. The Turkish Air Force (Turk Hava Kuvvetleri) started receiving F-100 Super Sabres in the early 1950s. About 206 F-100D and F versions were delivered to the Turkish Air Force (Turk Hava Kuvvetleri) over the years.
Throughout the 1970s, the southern borders of the Soviet Union perpetually received the attention of F-100 aircraft coming from Turkey, as Yefim Gordon and Dmitriy Komissarov explain in their book Sukhoi Interceptors: The Su-9, Su-11, and Su-15: Unsung Soviet Cold War Heroes.
Flagon Vs Super Sabre
A Turkish Air Force (THK: Türk Hava Kuvvetleri) North American F-100 Super Sabre aircraft invaded Soviet airspace on September 7, 1972, close to Leninakan, Armenia (also known as Gyumri). Despite flying at ultralow altitude, the intruders were detected by air defense radars in a timely fashion. Another ploy of the ‘bad guys’ worked, however—the fighters flew in close formation, appearing on the radarscopes as one heavy aircraft (the USAF had used this tactic against North Vietnamese interceptors during the Vietnam War); hence only a single 166th Fighter Aviation Regiment (IAP) Su-15 scrambled from Sandar AB in neighboring Georgia to intercept `it’. The GCI command post operators did not realize they were dealing with multiple targets until the Turkish fighters swept over the place with a roar.
Due to the lack of “look-down/shoot-down” capability in its radar, the lone Su-15 was unable to intercept its target. As a result, the F-100s flew over Leninakan and were fired on by a heavy machine gun, providing antiaircraft protection for the PVO’s radar site, but got away unscathed.
F-100 intruding into Soviet air-space over the Caucasus
On May 23, 1974, another THK F-100 intruded into Soviet air-space over the Caucasus region with impunity. A Su-15 standing on QRA duty scrambled from the airbase in Kyurdamir, Azerbaijan, but was not directed toward the target because the latter had unwisely intruded into an area defended by a SAM regiment. A missile was launched at the F-100 but failed to hit due to an issue with the guidance system.
Eventually, however, the Turks fell victim to the rule ‘pride goeth before the fall’. On Aug. 24, 1976, Soviet AD radars detected a target moving in Turkish airspace toward the Soviet border. This was soon identified as a pair of F-100s flying in close formation. No fewer than three Su-15s scrambled this time (two from Kyurdamir and one from Sandar AB), but again they did not manage to get a piece of the action. The fighters had again rashly flown right into a nest of SAMs; this time the PVO crews on the ground did their job well, and one of the Super Sabres was shot down. Unfortunately, the wreckage fell on the wrong side of the border, and the pilot, who ejected, also landed in Turkish territory; the following day the Turks raised hell, accusing the Soviet Union of the ‘wanton destruction of a Turkish fighter’.
Sukhoi Interceptors: The Su-9, Su-11, and Su-15: Unsung Soviet Cold War Heroes is published by Schiffer Publishing and is available to order here.
Photo by U.S. Air Force and Filip.vidinovski via Wikipedia
