Syrian Flatfish

**Spinners** · April 15, 2018

Mikoyan MiG-41SM - 678 Squadron, Syrian Air Force, 2018

Following the second wave of strikes against suspected Syrian chemical weapons plants and storage facilities in late April 2018, Vladimir Putin (President of the Russian Federation) ordered the immediate transfer of 6 MiG-41's to the Syrian Air Force. Arriving at Abu-al-Duhur airbase on April 30th the aircraft were hastily given Syrian Air Force markings but were allegedly flown by Soviet pilots on attack missions in support of Bashar al-Assad's Syrian government forces against targets in the A'zaz area north of Aleppo in May 2018. This move prompted President Trump to specifically authorise the deployment of F-22A Raptors to Incirlik Air Base in Turkey later in the same month.