CHINA, PAKISTAN, IRAN, SAUDI ARABIA, RUSSIA, SYRIA JOINT AIR ESCORT OPERATION

 

OutSyed The Box

Monday, October 2, 2023

CHINA, PAKISTAN, IRAN, SAUDI ARABIA, RUSSIA, SYRIA JOINT AIR ESCORT OPERATION

 

The 2023 Asian Games have just ended in Hangzhou in China.  Over 12,000 athletes participated from 45 Asian countries including Afghanistan, Taiwan and Palestine.

The last Olympic Games had about 10,000 athletes participating. Hence the Asian Games have become the biggest sporting event on earth in the numbers of competing athletes.

Among foreign heads of state to attend was the Syrian President Bashar al Assad who went with his wife and family. Assad's charming wife became the star attraction  wherever they went and people rushed and crushed to shake her hands and take selfies with her.

Here is a brief video from Syria. (I had to cut the video short because the file was too big). About half the video here shows a Syrian Arab guy speaking fluent Mandarin who explains the gratitude the Syrians have towards China not only for hosting Syria but in providing secure air travel for the Syrian President and his family to travel to China.

 

Because of the constant threat that the British and the Americans may shoot down the plane or try to force the plane down the Chinese government made special arrangements to provide fighter escorts to accompany the plane. At all times FOUR jet fighters accompanied the Syrian president's plane. The most interesting thing is that FOUR countries Pakistan, Iran, Saudi Arabia and Russia cooperated with China to provide the fighter escort.

Here is a description of how the president's flight was escorted :

 Syrian  President Assad's trip to China  Air safety.

[Sep 30, 2023 at 10:00]
President Assad had to fly to China on an Air China plane because in today’s world, you can’t trust the Empire of Evil not to force his plane down and indict him for alleged war crimes.   A sad state of affairs in today’s world when Heads of State like Putin etc have to worry about air safety.

The Syrian president and his family returned safely aboard Air China's B6131 special plane.

It was escorted by fighter jets from four countries via air relay.

1. Air China special plane B6131 entered Pakistani airspace first, and Pakistani J-10 fighter jets immediately took off and escorted it to the country's southern port city of Karachi. 

2. After leaving Pakistani airspace, Assad's special plane entered the Arabian Sea. From there Iran sent fighter jets to accompany the flight along the direction of the Persian Gulf.  

3. As the third participant, Saudi Arabia’s fighter jets escorted Assad’s special plane to the Jordanian border area. 

4. After entering Syrian airspace, Russian fighter jets escorted the special plane to land safely at Damascus Airport. 

 

My Comments :

The 'air relay' crossed from Iran to Saudi Arabia where the Iranian Airforce must have handed over the flight to the Saudi Arabian Airforce. They must have worked out FOF (Friend or Foe) identifications and other protocols. This would be a first time between Iran and Saudi Arabia (who are supposed to be enemies).

It is also most interesting that Saudi Arabia provided fighter escorts for the Syrian President. How things have changed. 

It was also a statement by Pakistan and Saudi Arabia (other than Iran and Russia) that if anyone attacked the flight (USA, Britain, NATO?) their escorts would shoot back.

The Chinese have indeed pulled off more than just hosting a sporting event. This is quite a coup.