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As the Su-22 climbed after dropping ordnance, Tremel would respond, firing an AIM-9X Sidewinder missile that missed the Fitter. Then Tremel fired another missile, this time an AIM-120 AMRAAM, which shot down the Su-22

As we have previously reported, on July 30, 2017, LCDR Michael “MOB” Tremel, the F/A-18E Super Hornet U.S. Naval Aviator from VFA-87 Golden Warriors, shot down a Syrian Sukhoi Su-22 on June 18 and revealed some details of how he scored his kill during a short interview released to Save The Royal Navy.

But now, in a video first uncovered by The Drive, Tremel, along with the other three pilots who participated in the mission, offer a blow-by-blow account during a special panel at the Tailhook 2017 Symposium, held from September 7-10.

Here you can find the video where Tremel and the other Naval Aviators involved in the sortie describe the first air-to-air kill scored by a U.S. Navy aircraft since Operation Desert Storm (ODS).

Nevertheless, a full description of the engagement is also provided by an article that appeared on Military.com.

The pilots and their aircraft were assigned to Carrier Air Wing 8 (CVW 8)— embarked on the aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush (CVN-77). The carrier, which had been launching daily airstrikes from the Persian Gulf, had moved into the Mediterranean in early June, just days before the mission.

“Everyone’s kind of heading to the same place that day, to Raqqa. At that point in time, the [area of responsibility] was pretty hot in that general vicinity and a lot of guys were dropping bombs,” Tremel said.

The mission started out as just another close air support (CAS) sortie over Syria and there was even time en route for a cup of coffee: as Tremel said, both he and his wingman, VFA-87 training officer Lt. Cmdr. Jeff “Jo Jo” Krueger, enjoyed some java at 22,000 feet inbound to Raqqa.

“Again, we briefed CAS, and that was going to be our mission that day, so we felt like it would be in our wheelhouse, what we were doing,” Tremel explained. “But we also trained to all the air-to-air contingencies we might have and we talked about that.”

Once the aircraft arrived in the region coordinated with two other F/A-18 Hornet pilots, already above the area of operation. All four were communicating about events playing out on the ground far below.

“We’re hearing that the situation’s getting more heated on the ground with some of the friendly forces getting closer to some of the Syrian forces so, based on that, we get Jo Jo and MOB on the radio,” said Lt. Cmdr. William “Vieter” Vuillet, a pilot attached to VFA-37 Raging Bulls, another squadron embarked on the Bush.

As the pilots prepared to perform their CAS mission, someone spotted a Russian Flanker fighter aircraft circling overhead, which, according to the pilots, was not an unusual occurrence in the region.

Even though, as we have already reported, Tremel said that Russian pilots behaved with great professionalism during their previous encounters, he decided to follow the aircraft and monitor its actions as a cautionary measure since his Super Hornet previously experienced some minor technical issues.

“I’ll extend out in air-to-air master mode while these guys are in air-to-ground master mode to monitor the situation on the ground,” Tremel said. “That’s when I’ll pick up an unknown aircraft approaching from the south.”

Since observers, which included U.S. Air Force (USAF) assets in the region, were sending conflicting information about the identity of the aircraft, Tremel decided the best thing he could do was to get a visual ID on the aircraft and its activities, so he decided to descend and get a better look.

Eventually, a consensus emerged that it was a Syrian plane.

Meanwhile, Krueger worked to streamline radio communications, shedding secondary tasks and focusing on keeping information flowing as the situation unfolded.

After Tremel neared the Syrian aircraft, he said that he was ready to return to his primary job as soon as he could be sure it posed no danger to friendly forces.

“Our whole mission out there was to defeat ISIS, annihilate ISIS,” he said. “So as quickly as we can get back to that mission, that was our goal that day … At any point in time, if this had de-escalated, that would have been great. We would have gotten mission success and [gone] back to continue to drop bombs on ISIS.”

But that was not to happen; in fact, the Su-22 Fitter kept approaching friendly ground forces despite several radio warning calls from the Hornets that tried to persuade it to turn around.

At this point, as explained by Tremel, Krueger advised that the U.S. aircraft should execute “head-butts,” close overhead passes on the Syrian aircraft with warning flares.

They performed three such passes, but they did not affect the Syrian plane.

“After that third one, he [proceeded] to execute a dive and release ordnance in the proximity of friendly forces,” Tremel said.

According to Military.com, as the Su-22 climbed after dropping ordnance, Tremel would respond, firing an AIM-9X Sidewinder missile which missed the Fitter for reasons MOB didn’t explain.

“I lose the smoke trail and I have no idea what happened to the missile at that point in time,” he said.

Then Tremel fired another missile, this time an AIM-120 Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile (AMRAAM), which shot down the Su-22.

“The aircraft will pitch right and down and the pilot will jump out and left in his ejection seat,” he said.

To stay clear of the debris field, Tremel executed a quick turn to the left, allowing the ejection seat to pass to the right of his canopy.

The pilots described the events in understated terms but acknowledged adrenaline was high as they returned to operations.

Vieter, who descended to get a visual following the air-to-air engagement, said he and the pilot flying with him, Lt. Stephen “Scotty P” Galecki, could not resist getting on a secure communication channel to tell the tanker crew what happened when they went to refuel.

Vieter and Gasecki opted to continue with their mission, while Tremel and Krueger soon decided to return to the ship.

According to Krueger, it was “no small feat” for Tremel to take the initiative to arm his aircraft and fire ordnance at an armed aircraft for the first time in two-and-a-half decades.

“Looking at the wreckage down below us, It was a different feeling,” Krueger said. “… We had to make some decisions pretty quickly, and I thought that the training and commander’s guidance that we got at that point was a big deal.”

As Tremel explained upon return to the ship, the fanfare was underwhelming; the sentiment was mere that “the show goes on.”

He shook a few hands on the flight deck, then was ushered away, the ordnance remaining on his aircraft quickly reloaded onto other fighters that would launch within the hour.

“It’s extremely surreal to be sitting here in this environment,” Tremel said. “I couldn’t have done it without the guy sitting next to me, Jo Jo, and the other guys that were airborne. It was an absolute team effort, to include all the coordination that went on with the Air Force the entire time we were in the AOR.”

Noteworthy since the decisions by Tremel and other U.S. pilots to fire at the Syrian Su-22 Fitter and at two drones in June, there haven’t been similarly provocative actions by pro-Syrian forces.

U.S. officials say Syrians seem to have understood the message.

However Tremel’s account confirms what was already stated about the air war in Syria by Lieutenant Colonel Jeremy Renken, the F-15E driver who shot down a “pro-Syria regime” Shahed 129 drone on Jun. 8 after the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) attacked U.S.-backed fighters in southern Syria.

For Renken in fact the Syrian conflict has evolved far beyond simply striking Islamic State targets on the ground.

“What this recent event has proven is that you can’t take for granted that you know what the fight is going to look like,” Renken said.

“You need to walk in ready for it to metastasize into any hybrid variation,” he pointed out.

Photo by Navy Lookout Twitter profile, Alan Wilson from Stilton, Peterborough, Cambs, the UK via Wikipedia, Radomil talk via Wikimedia Commons, Lt. Chris Pagenkopf, Specialist 2nd Class Sara B. Sexton  / U.S. Navy and  Staff Sgt. Andy M. Kin / U.S. Air Force

LCDR Tremel admitted that the shoot-down required two missiles

Save The Royal Navy had the opportunity to speak with LCDR Michael Tremel, the fighter pilot from VFA-87 who is credited with shooting down the Syrian Su-22 on Jun. 18, 2017, near Tabqah, 20 miles west of Raqqa, after the attack aircraft had dropped bombs near the U.S. backed forces, in the form of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).

As we have already explained his Su-22 shotdown represented the first air-to-air kill scored by a U.S. Navy aircraft since Operation Desert Storm (ODS). During ODS two F/A-18C Hornets belonging to VFA-81 Sunliners downed two Iraqis Chengdu F-7As (the Chinese version of the MiG-21 Fishbed) on Jan. 17, 1991, and an F-14A Tomcat from VF-1 Wolfpack shot down an Iraqi Mi-8 helicopter on Feb. 6, 1991.

However, as reported by Save The Royal Navy, here’s Tremel description of the air engagement.

“The whole incident lasted about eight minutes… I did not directly communicate with the Syrian Jet but he was given several warnings by our supporting AWACS aircraft… So yes, we released ordnance, and yes it hit a target that was in the air, but it really just came back to defending those guys that were doing the hard job on the ground and taking that ground back from ISIS.” He continued “I didn’t see the pilot eject but my wingman observed his parachute. When you think about the shoot-down, in the grand scheme of things… we [our squadron] flew over 400 missions in support of friendly forces on the ground” he said. On encounters with Russian aircraft, he said: “They behaved with great professionalism at all times.”

Moreover, LCDR Tremel also admitted that the shootdown required two missiles, an AIM-9X Sidewinder short-range air-to-air missile that was deceived by flares deployed from the SU-22 and then an AIM-120 AMRAAM, which destroyed the Fitter.

Finally, according to the Alert 5 weblog, the jet involved has been identified as the F/A-18E Super Hornet AJ-302 BuNo. 168912 (that you can see in the main picture of this article) and not the F/A-18E BuNo. 168914 as first reported. The air-to-air kill mark has been painted below the canopy.

Photo by Alan Wilson from Stilton, Peterborough, Cambs, the UK via Wikipedia and Navy Lookout Twitter profile

LCDR Tremel is in front of F/A-18E ‘AJ302’ BuNo. 168914, where he was flying when he downed the Fitter

The unique photo in this post shows LCDR Tremel, the U.S. Naval Aviator from the VFA-87 Golden Warriors, who shot down a Syrian Sukhoi Su-22 on June 18, 2017.

As you can see in the picture, Tremel is in front of the F/A-18E ‘AJ302’ BuNo. 168914 (whose model has apparently been changed from 304 to 302) that he was flying when he downed the Fitter near Tabqah, 20 miles west of Raqqa, after that, the attack aircraft had dropped bombs near the U.S.-backed forces in the form of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). The Super Hornet features the kill mark of the air-to-air victory under the cockpit canopy too.

The photo appeared on the Navy Lookout Twitter profile last night and was then reposted on Facebook by the world-famous modern military aviation author Tom Cooper.

As we have explained, immediately after the Syrian Su-22 dropped its bombs, two American F/A-18E Super Hornets, flying from the aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush, engaged, firing an AIM-9X Sidewinder—a short-range air-to-air missile—at the Syrian plane from about half a mile away.

But the Syrian jet deployed defensive flares, causing the Sidewinder to miss its target. At this point, LCDR Tremel fired a second missile, in the form of an AIM-120 AMRAAM, which hit its intended target, downing the Syrian warplane and forcing its pilot to eject.

Noteworthy, this Su-22 shotdown represented the first air-to-air kill scored by a U.S. Navy aircraft since Operation Desert Storm (ODS). During ODS, two F/A-18C Hornets belonging to VFA-81 Sunliners downed two Iraqis Chengdu F-7As (the Chinese version of the MiG-21 Fishbed) on Jan. 17, 1991, and an F-14A Tomcat from VF-1 Wolfpack shot down an Iraqi Mi-8 helicopter on Feb. 6, 1991.

The main image of this article does not cause any OPSEC violation since it was already available from the sources outlined above

Photo by Navy Lookout Twitter profile 

The two F/A-18E Super Hornet pilots “did everything they could to try to warn the Fitter away. They did a head-butt maneuver; they launched flares, but ultimately the Su-22 went into a dive, and it was observed dropping munitions and was subsequently shot down.” Navy Capt. Jeff Davis, Pentagon spokesman

The photo in this post shows a U.S. Navy F/A-18E BuNo. 168914 from the VFA-87 Golden Warriors that, as we have already reported, was involved in the shooting down of a Syrian Su-22 on June 18th, 2017.

Noteworthy CNN learned new details of that day’s air-to-air engagement.

According to Navy Capt. Jeff Davis, a Pentagon spokesman, in fact, the two Super Hornets, which, as we have explained, were flying near the town of Ja’Din, just south of Tabqah, Syria, to provide air cover to Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) members, “saw the Su-22 approaching. It again had dirty wings; it was carrying ordnance. They did everything they could to try to warn it away. They did a head-butt maneuver; they launched flares, but ultimately the Su-22 went into a dive, and it was observed dropping munitions and was subsequently shot down.”

“Dirty wings” is a military term used to describe a plane carrying armaments. In “a head-butt maneuver, the planes fly just in advance of another to create a heavy wake and get its attention,” Davis explained.

As we have reported immediately after the Syrian Su-22 dropped its bombs, two American F/A-18E Super Hornets, flying from the aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush, engaged, firing an AIM-9 Sidewinder—a short-range air-to-air missile—at the Syrian plane from about half a mile away.

But as US officials told CNN, the Syrian jet deployed defensive flares, causing the US missile to miss its target. The U.S. pilot shot a second missile, in the form of an AIM 120 AMRAAM, which hit its intended target, downing the Syrian warplane and forcing its pilot to eject.

The officials added that the U.S. pilot saw the Syrian pilot ejecting and saw a parachute deploy, but the US believes the pilot would have landed in ISIS-controlled territory in Syria. The Syrian Armed Forces said in a statement that the pilot was missing.

However, the downing of a Syrian Fitter does not appear to have prevented Syria from attempting a similar bombing on June 20th, according to US military officials. A U.S. official told CNN that another Syrian Su-22 fighter approached what the military assessed as a possible bombing run on the U.S.-backed SDF near Tabqa, Syria, on June 20th.

The official said that coalition aircraft performed a show of force, and the Syrian attack aircraft then aborted its trajectory and left the area.

Moreover, since after the Su-22 shot down Russia said it would treat any U.S. jets in Syria as “air targets,” the Australian government announced that it would “temporarily” halt its airstrikes in Syria.

However, the chief of staff of the Air Force, Gen. David Goldfein, told the Senate Appropriations Committee on Wednesday that the de-confliction line “remains open.”

“There’s actually a line we have with the Russians that’s a de-confliction line, and that line remains open and we remain in conversation with them,” Goldfein pointed out.

“So our hope of course is that we return to a little bit sense of normalcy and we continue to keep the dialogue open,” he concluded.

Photo by Alan Wilson from Stilton, Peterborough, Cambs, UK (Boeing F/A-18E Super Hornet ‘168914 / AJ-304’), via Wikimedia Commons