turkish planes were allowed to cross into syrian airspace to bomb Kurds although Russians had the right not to allow them

they certainly didn't think a minor violation of turkish airspace would cause a shooting

mind you it would be totally different if the missile hit the plane while it was in turkish airspace and/or the plane went down there(as I think was the turkish plan), but according to even turkish ministry it was hit in syrian airspace, huge difference

they gave casus belli to Russians now so they can shoot down any turkish plane that just comes near the border and say "you did the same"

I stand corrected! :ok:

-RP

Tornado GR4 HMCS
 

HMCS was requested as an UOR for Tornado GR4 in April 2011.

BAE Systems to Provide HMCS for RAF Tornado Gr4s

HMCS was first delivered as an UOR for Tornado GR4 in April 2012.

Tornado Gr4 Deployed in Afghanistan Field HMCS Helmet-Mounted Display System

The request for tender for embodiment on the entire Tornado GR4 fleet by November 2016 was put out in June 2015. The specification requires:

- Full integration with current Tornado AES and Mk 10 helmets.

- Full interoperability with the current weapons cleared on Tornado GR4/4A including ASRAAM.

- Full compatibility with current, in-service NVG capabilities.

- Full interoperability with current aircraft sensors and have full functionality with the current Tornado HOTAS system.

- A day/night capability.

- No new restrictions to the current Tornado GR4/4A flight envelope.

Public tender Bristol 2015 Design and Embodiment of a Helmet Mounted Cueing System (HMCS) for use on the Tornado GR4/4A Fleet. 2015-06-17

Have I got this story right? A UOR was issued in 2011 worth £8m to BAE to design, supply and install a system. Job done in a year or so, well done BAE. Under the UOR system though there is no in service support, so we now have to go through a tendering cycle. Just who is likely to win this contract? Why not just award the follow on to the system designers now there is a need to sustain/support it?

"So the repeated diplomatic warnings, the summoning of the Russian Ambassador, the warnings printed in the international press and the shooting down of the other aircraft wasn't enough?

Are they stupid, arrogant or both"

Neither. More like cunning and calculated. Justification for huge escalation of the Bear's footprint, with consequences for much more than Syrian airspace. NATO will need a very careful, but powerful stance, or this could get uglier very soon. With this move, Russia has threatened free world allies in the region.

I doubt this was intentional move by Russia, if it was they wouldn't breach the airspace for only couple of seconds.

Colonel Oleg Pechkov was the Russian pilot killed.

Thanks for posting the additional info re: GR.4 HMCS, RAFEngO.

-RP

Tornado GR4 HMCS
 

Kitbag,

I assume that the HMCS UOR in April 2011 was for a limited number of systems sufficient for the in-theatre Tornado GR4 Det that was then delivered in April 2012 - to 617 Sqn at the time.

The tender issued in July 2015 was for rollout, embodiment and through-life support on the entire fleet to the OSD. Although I have no experience of tendering, I would imagine the methodology has something to do with EU competitive tendering rules - see this in my previous link:

"Advertising Regime OJEU: This contract opportunity is published in the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU)...".