Russian air defense in Syria would have shot down Turkish jets like ‘ducks’

ISTANBUL

A handout picture provided by Turkish Chief of Staff shows an officer exhibiting in an undisclosed location, Turkey, 05 July 2012, some pieces collected from the wreckage of the Turkish F4 war plane which was shot down by Syria over the Mediterranean Sea on 22 June. EPA Photo

Syria's Russian-made air defense systems would have shot down Turkish jets like "ducks" if Turkey had attempted an attack on Syria, Russia newspaper Izvestia has reported.
 
Turkey was ready to launch an attack on Syria but aborted its plans when the Turkish General Staff realized that Turkish forces knew very little about Syria's defense systems, the report said.
 
Syria possesses the latest air defense systems, bought from Russia, and would have shot down Turkish warplanes like "they were ducks behind the shooting stand at the fair,” according to Izvestia.
 
The newspaper also said such a course of events would have ignited a full-scale war between the former allies.