RAAF sheds no light on Russian jet loss

Turkey insists a Russian aircraft was shot down because it intruded on the country's airspace. Russia says its aircraft, whose pilot was killed, didn't fly over Turkish territory.

Australia could have provided independent verification either way, had the RAAF E-7A Wedgetail airborne early warning and control aircraft been operating over Syria or Iraq at that time.

With its advanced radar able to observe aircraft movements hundreds of kilometres distant, the Wedgetail would likely have tracked the Russian aircraft.

Defence says the Wedgetail, with the UAE-based RAAF air taskgroup, wasn't airborne on the day the Russian Su-24 was shot down by Turkish fighters.