An active participant in the NATO and SEATO blocs, Turkey is guided by the relevant requirements that apply to all the armed forces that are part of the combined air forces of the South European theater of operations. Taking into account the strategic and geographical position of the country (proximity to Russia and other post-socialist countries), for a very long time, in times absolutely peaceful for these territories, NATO established a rather powerful group of the Turkish Air Force here. This air group consists of twenty F-4C Phantom fighter-bombers (USA) and the 39th tactical air group. This is in addition to the Turkish Air Force, units and units of which can provide active support to both the Navy and any other troops, including the ground.
During periods of confrontation, the transfer of equipment with personnel and troops was carried out throughout the theater of operations. Important strategic objects were covered, tactical reconnaissance was conducted for the armed forces of NATO and its command. Until a certain time, all these tasks were carried out by the Turkish Air Force.
Composition and organization
At the head of the country's air force is the commander, reporting to the chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces. It is located in Ankara, from where the management of all subordinate units, units and formations is carried out. The Turkish Air Force headquarters is in close cooperation with the OTAK (United Tactical Aviation Command) in Izmir.
The country has forty-eight thousand people in the regular air forces, plus twenty-nine thousand in reserve. The Turkish Air Force, whose composition is not much different from the aviation forces of other countries, is divided into two TVAs (tactical air forces) with headquarters in Diyarbakir and Eskeshehir. They also include the Nike anti-aircraft guided missile base, a transport aviation group, and an aviation training command.
Squadron
The main combat unit of the Turkish Air Force is considered an aviation squadron of eighteen aircraft. At the moment, work is underway to replace physically and morally obsolete F-104G, RF-84F and F-100C aircraft (as well as D) with modern F-4E, F-104S and RF-5A. There are four Turkish Air Force bases in the First TVA: Myrted, Eskisehir, Bandyrma and Balikesir. Here are the F-100C and F-100D, F-104S and F-104G squadrons, as well as the Phantom F-4E, F-102A, F-5A and RF-5A. There are three airbases in the Second TVA, but the number of Turkish Air Force aircraft on them is no less large. The Diyarbakir base contains an entire squadron of F-10GD, F-102A and RF-84F. There are two F-5A squadrons in Merzifon, and F-100D in Erhach. Nineteen squadrons comprise a total of Turkish Air Force bombers and fighters.
Twelve air groups - attack aircraft, five - fighter aircraft, two squadrons - reconnaissance. A total of three hundred and thirty combat aircraft, including ninety - carriers of nuclear warheads. The air transport group has three squadrons with more than twenty aircraft. The missile base missiles are equipped with two divisions of four squadrons each, where there are seventy-two launchers that cover the entire Bosphorus Strait. The Turkish Air Force helicopters are not in large numbers - there are thirty of them: ten AB-204B, UH-19D and UH-11 each.
Training of flight and technical personnel
Training is provided by the aviation command for all divisions and units. There are an academy, two airbases (in Konya and Chigli) and several technical and flight schools of the Turkish Air Force, the number of which varies quite often. The main educational institution is a school in Istanbul, where young people who have already graduated from the Air Force Lyceum and have gained some knowledge about aircraft control are admitted. There are several such lyceums (special secondary schools) in the country. The cadets practice the piloting technique in flight schools on the T-37, T-33 and T-6.
The training is two-year, followed by an internship at air bases, where the real skills of commanding military aircraft TF-102A, TF-100F, TF-104G and F-5B are acquired. After the internship, a military rank is assigned, and the direction to the existing squadrons follows. Technicians (attendants) receive training at the Izmir school: radar station operators, specialists in posts and control centers, guidance, signalmen, airfield and rear services for providing the air forces also have corresponding schools for training. The number of Turkish Air Force aircraft for training totals about one hundred and twenty units. Among them are not only T-6 and T-33, T-34, T-37, T-41, TF-100F, TF-104G, TF-102X and F-5B also fly.
To NATO
The Turkish Air Force planes are placed at the disposal of NATO and are part of the entire joint forces command and control system. The combat training of units and units of the Turkish Air Force supports them in combat readiness. The exercises are organized according to NATO requirements and on the basis of operational plans drawn up there. Competitions are also held in which coherence of work, the flight skills of the crew, and a quick reaction to the air conditions of staff officers are improved. All airbases are regularly checked at least once a year for combat readiness and combat readiness, and during inspections each crew gets its own task: this is intercepting targets at high and low altitudes, and bombing small targets, and conducting air reconnaissance simple and in difficult weather conditions.
The entire strength of the Turkish Air Force regularly participates in the command and staff and military exercises of NATO, which are held in southern Europe. This is Deep Farrow, Don Patrol, and Express. The Turkish Air Force command has to take into account the bitter experience of the military operations of 1974 on the island of Cyprus, and therefore it pays great attention to the interaction of the ground forces, naval forces and aviation. They also train to destroy small surface targets. The most significant place is given to operations from advanced airfields and the dispersal of aircraft.
Politics and Turkish Air Force
In World War II, the government of the republic almost completely remained neutral, skillfully maneuvering between two opposing blocs. In late February 1945, Turkey finally decided to declare war on Germany. The fighting did not affect her, all support was based on a diplomatic position. Turkey controlled the Bosporus and the Dardanelles, the straits along which warships sailed to the Black Sea, it had an army, but did not try to change the balance of forces on the southern Soviet-German front and in the Mediterranean.
Since 1939, Ankara has held onto the Anglo-French bloc, because it was afraid of Italy gaining, but after France surrendered in 1940, it became much closer to Germany: it supplied strategic raw materials (chrome, for example), and German and Italian military vessels passed through the straits. In 1941, Turkey declared neutrality, without stopping, however, developing prospects for participation in the war with the Soviet Union on the side of Germany. At the borders, Soviet troops could not weaken attention: twenty-six Turkish divisions were stationed directly at the borders, and large-scale maneuvers of the Turkish air force were constantly carried out. In Transcaucasia, the USSR was forced to hold a significant group of troops precisely for this reason.
Eastern trick
Only after the Battle of Stalingrad did Turkey become convinced of the failure of Germany’s plans to defeat the Soviet Union, after which it immediately resumed various agreements with the Allies, but only in August 1944 did it end all diplomatic relations with Hitler. Hitler had to declare war on pain that the Dardanelles and the Bosphorus would be controlled by members of the anti-Hitler coalition. The British unnecessarily armed the Lend-Lease Turks - they never participated in the war.
However, Turkey became a member of the UN as a result of the declaration of war. And a member of NATO, too, since 1952. Due to its geographical location, it is a very valuable member for this organization. In 1972, the Turkish government adopted a fleet modernization program. Technically, all units and units were re-equipped, while the number of the Turkish Air Force practically did not increase (neither the park nor the personnel). Turkey is not engaged in aircraft manufacturing, the emphasis was on the purchase of the most modern technology. Terms of transactions, of course, preferential - NATO always supports its members.
Specifics
The contract with the USA gave Turkey in 1972 forty Phantom fighter bombers, the F-4E, which replaced obsolete ones. Turkish pilots and technicians mastered new weapons in the USA, then a training center was created. In 1974, Italy signed a contract with Turkey and delivered to her fifty-four F-104S fighters manufactured under an American license. Germany donated to the Turkish Air Force ninety training aircraft TF-104G, which are also manufactured under license from the United States. Moreover, through the efforts of the Germans, an aircraft factory was built in Kayseri - fifteen transporters a year. Naturally, as a result of updating the aircraft fleet and the training of Turkish military specialists, the combat capabilities of the air forces increased significantly.
The long-running conflicts in the Middle East definitely show that Turkey pursues an aggressive foreign policy. And special emphasis is placed precisely on combat aircraft. It is worth recalling the military conflict in Syria and the attacks of Turkish units on the military aircraft of the Russian Federation. Now relations between the two countries are taking on the shape of a shaky world, however, Turkey will not be able to take a dominant position. Its hegemonic aspirations in the Asian space were fueled by NATO membership, but after a strangely attempted military coup, the Turkish leadership was no longer so trusting with the coalition. Official Ankara still relies on the role of its military aviation in the foreign policy struggle, but NATO has ceased to be an anti-Russian ram in the hands of NATO. Anyway, for a while.
Air Force Comparison
Russia and Turkey have something to remember together. Throughout the history of relations between the two countries, the war began twelve times, and local conflicts are not included in this number. The last war was a hundred years ago - the First World War. However, in 2016, the danger of a direct military conflict was again high. This was the destruction of our Su-24, the response to which was very tangible for Turkey. Despite this, hostilities did not begin. Russia has almost destroyed Turkish business by banning the rest of Russians in this country. And even professionals spoke of a possible military conflict: both generals and diplomats. In light of this, in spite of the fact that the conflict was sorted out and apologies were made, it makes sense to find out the potential of the Turkish and Russian armies in comparison.
The most likely collision point between the two countries' aircraft is northern Syria, where Syrian bandits receive Turkish support. Due to what is Ankara so confident in herself that she is not afraid of a retaliatory strike from the Russian aviation? The basis of the Turkish Air Force is the fourth-generation American fighter - F-16 (one of them shot our bomber in the back), Turkey has two hundred and eight of them. Various modifications of the obsolete American fighter NF-5 (1964) can be added to them - the Turkish Air Force has forty-one of them. Compared to the first - quite a workhorse, albeit also an old one - this fighter must be replaced.
Our VKS (Aerospace Forces), of course, surpass the Turkish. There are attack aircraft, strategic and front-line bombers Tu-160 and Tu-95, which have shown themselves well in the fight against the ISIS terrorist organization banned on the territory of the Russian Federation. We have three hundred and thirty fighters of various modifications of the Su-27, sixty Su-30 aircraft, forty Su-35S, about two hundred MiG-29, one hundred and fifty MiG-31 and the most combat-ready fighters of the new construction - Su-30 and Su-35, with airborne radar station. They significantly surpass everything that exists in aviation today.
Defeat aircraft
The KAB-500-S and KAB-1500 correctable bombs, which are in service with the Russian Air Force, plus the X-555 and X-101 cruise missiles, which are also a good means of defeating the enemy, are quite effective. The problem of medium-range air-to-air missiles still requires work, but it is being gradually solved. The main missile of this class in our VKS is the very old R-27, which has a semi-active radar for homing. It is quite difficult for a pilot to lead it to the target, since it is impossible to maneuver for an accurate hit. But in a tense and volatile combat situation, this is not a very good position. With a sharp maneuver, the warhead may not hit the target.
Work is underway, the R-27 undergoes a sophisticated modification, receiving thermal homing. This function will free the pilot from the need to conduct a rocket, but even such an improvement will not make this weapon advanced. Here, the Turkish Air Force is still a priority, as it is armed with American AIM-120 AMRAAM missiles, which can be launched and forgotten about them. They will find the goal. At the same time, the pilot’s maneuvering capabilities are much greater than the pilots of Russian fighters. It remains to hope for the best craftsmanship and training of our crews, since this is what determines the outcome of each air confrontation.
Summary
Since the Russian Air Force has, in addition to multi-purpose fighters, front-line bombers and strategic ones for destroying the most important targets in the enemy’s infrastructure, and in much larger quantities, the advantage is in comparison with our Air Force. And other types of aircraft (bombers, attack aircraft, helicopters, military transporters) are represented in our country in an immeasurably greater number. The advantage is undeniable. Although Turkey integrated into NATO's air defense system, and the American Patriot has a range of up to eighty kilometers, Russia is armed with the latest S-300 and S-400 systems, which have a detection range of almost five hundred kilometers.
Having placed these complexes in Syrian Latakia, Russia was personally convinced that Turkey was nervous, since a significant part of the south-east of the country came under control. Summarizing the comparison between the Russian and Turkish air forces, we must admit that in case of war Russia will have an advantage, since it has more combat-ready aircraft, their quantity and quality continues to grow, rearmament is in full swing, replenishing aviation with new and more advanced combat vehicles. However, the battles will not be easy, because it can not be called weak Turkish Air Force (photo shows this). So, it would be better if no war ever happened.