105 cruise missiles is hardly a major event

My Fetid Mind | April 14th, 2018 | Mariner

[buwaya]

Probably a deal with the Russians.
It would have been more interesting if the Russians had tried to shoot down the missiles.
There would then be a better idea of the quality of Russian systems.

But thats a risk to the Russians, it benefits them to hide both their qualities and their deficiencies. If they are bluffing, they can continue to do so. If they aren’t bluffing it hampers their rivals in the R&D leapfrog game.

[PIF]

More from: http://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/20120/heres-all-the-details-the-pentagon-just-released-regarding-its-missile-attack-on-syria

U.S. Marine Corps Lieutenant General Kenneth McKenzie, the Director of the Joint Staff, said the Syrians had been unable to have any “material interference” in the operation and all the missiles reached their targets.

The operation “significantly crippled” Syria’s chemical weapons capabilities and despite reports of evacuations of some production equipment and other materiel, some fixtures were likely too large to move to another, safe location.

76 missiles struck the Barzah Research Center in Damascus, including 57 Tomahawk Land Attack Cruise Missiles (TLAM) and 19 Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile-Extended Range (JASSM-ER) air-launched cruise missiles.

22 missiles impacted the chemical weapon storage facility west of Homs, including nine TLAMs - all from U.S. ships - eight Storm Shadow air-launched cruise missiles from UK aircraft, three Missile de Croisière Naval (MdCN) cruise missiles from French frigates, and two SCALP air-launched cruise missiles from French aircraft.

Seven French SCALP missiles hit the associated bunker complex near the second target.

The Laboon and Monterey engaged targets from the Red Sea, Higgins fired missiles from the North Arabian Gulf, and John Warner was in the Mediterranean Sea.

In total, Monterey launched 30 TLAMs, Higgins launched 23, Laboon launched seven, and John Warner launched six.

The French Aquitaine-class frigate Languedoc also took part in the operation from the Mediterranean.

Air assets operated from bases throughout the region included US Air Force B-1B bombers, which fired all 19 JASSM-ER missiles, escorted by Air Force fighter jets. (snip)

Lieutenant General McKenzie said the Syrians attempted to shoot down incoming missiles with 40 surface-to-air missiles using a "ballistic trajectory" and "without guidance."(snip)

The U.S. government also noted that there had been a noted uptick in Russian-enabled disinformation regarding the situation in Syria in the aftermath of the strikes.

[Mariner]

“So if Putin chooses to respond in a few days, a week or a month from now your theory is kaput?”

ONLY if he engages US forces directly.

Which he will not do. Certainly not with flagged Russian forces.

[dfwgator]

Russia doesn’t care about Assad, per se.

If he could be removed with Russian interests in Syria being protected, they could work with that.

[Parley Baer]

“It more than paid for itself in the message sent to Iran, Russia and the region. The United States can act with impunity and Russia can’t save you.”

....and North Korea.

[JonPreston]

I don’t really give a flying f* about any of the American-haters in Syria.

I couldn't agree more, and DJT doesn't have to worry about our support given who might oppose him in 2020. The problem is the midterms and those voters who haven't voted in years. DJTs campaign rhetoric appealed to them, and this useless strike won't be helpful.

[Blue House Sue]

At no time have we ever won a war with so so few cruise missiles.

[onedoug]

Depends on what they actually hit.

[Parley Baer]

“So if Putin chooses to respond in a few days, a week or a month from now your theory is kaput?”
ONLY if he engages US forces directly.
Which he will not do. Certainly not with flagged Russian forces.”

Exactly. 300 Russian mercenaries found that out the hard way.

[Mariner]

Thanks for the summary.

[9YearLurker]

If you lose your life or a loved one (or even your property) that is a completely different story.

The continued demonization of Assad and Russia is hugely worrisome. Wake up.

[buwaya]

It sounds like a fine live-fire exercise.
Every military has to do this training/testing regularly to keep its hand in and verify the functioning of its systems.

[Alas Babylon!]

A response is not the same as a defense.

You can, and should, actually, make a case that the chemical attack that was supposedly done to precipitate this was not “proved” to be from the Syrians themselves, but that doesn’t mean the strikes were impotent, and the Russians effective.

I do have trouble with the chemical attack happening right after Pres. Trump says we’re pulling out of Syria, and I wish more evidence was shown that the Syrian government did it.

[PIF]

I see you are another vote to have the Democrat House this fall begin impeachment and the Democrat Senate vote Conviction and Removal. Congratulations on your foreign policy and defense acumen, you win!!

[JonPreston]

ONLY if he (Putin) engages US forces directly.

You stated in #11, nothing was accomplished so why risk a Russian reaction at all?

[Chode]

There are piles of aging, obsolete cruise missiles.

i wish... from a year ago May 23 2017

Navy Looks to Replenish Tomahawk Stockpile After Syria, Yemen Strikes

The Navy's request of $8.5 billion to cover overseas contingency operations in fiscal 2018 will include funding for 66 Tactical Tomahawk cruise missiles to replace those launched over the last 12 months in two separate deterrence operations.

The Navy actually is requesting to buy 100 of the $1 million missiles in order to obtain quantity costs savings on the purchase, said Navy Rear Adm. Brian Luther, deputy assistant secretary of the Navy for Budget in a briefing at the Pentagon Tuesday.

The fact that a significant portion of the purchase is scheduled to be funded under the service's war funding account is a testament to an unusually kinetic year for the platform.

In October 2016, the guided-missile destroyer Nitze launched five Tomahawks, taking out three radar sites on the coast of Yemen. Those sites had been used a day earlier to fire anti-ship missiles at Navy ships in the region.

And more recently, on April 26, the Navy launched a 59-missile strike from the destroyers Ross and Porter into Shayrat airfield, Syria, destroying 20 aircraft and damaging infrastructure. That strike was a response to reports that Syrian president Bashar al-Assad had targeted people in his own country with chemical weapons, causing the deaths of dozens of civilians, including women and children.

Reportedly, 60 missiles were launched from the two ships, though one landed in the water shortly after launch. Previous to those two strikes, the last time Tomahawk missiles were used was in 2014, in strikes against Islamic State militants.

Tomahawks have not been used to support two different military operations in the space of one year since 1998. That year the U.S. fired 79 of the missiles on al-Qaeda bases in Khost, Afghanistan, and the Khartoum, Sudan in a retaliatory mission known as Operation Infinite Reach. The same year, 325 Tomahawks were expended in support of the Iraq bombing campaign known as Operation Desert Fox.

Despite the recent operations, it's unlikely that the Navy's Tomahawk stores are running low. The service bought 196 of the missiles in Fiscal 2017, and 149 the year before.

A total of $381.6 million, including OCO and base budget funding, will pay for 100 missiles plus the procurement of modernization kits to be installed in Fiscal 2019, when the Navy begins mid-life recertification. The money will also fund the development of a maritime strike Tomahawk variant designed to target surface ships, according to the request.

[JonPreston]

I simply don’t care what Assad does in Syria.

[Leaning Right]

Let’s set the wayback machine to 1880. Back then Britain had the largest, most powerful navy in the world. No nation - including the United States - could match the Royal Navy.

And it can be argued that the US government had mistreated American Indians, at least once or twice.

It sure would be a major event in the United States if Britain had decided to shell a few US ports, as punishment for mistreating the Indians.

(No, I’m not equating America’s Indian policy with the recent chemical attacks. But what is no big deal for one nation is often a very big deal for other nations. And sometimes the lessons learned are not the ones you were hoping to teach.)

[CtBigPat]

They didn't think the missile strike had much effect.

They didn't know about the biological weapons stored next to the chemical weapons.

Soon the civil war was a forgotten afterthought...

[dynoman]

Alex Jones went nuts;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wug9BhSshFU

Cernovich was blabbing WW3, we were going to have to restart the draft, we were killing civilians, ISIS was attacking Christians.

Completely unhinged.