Posted on 10/07/2015 11:29:57 PM PDT by Cronos
It’s been a tough week for terrorists in Syria. Over seven days Russia delivered over a hundred airstrikes at various jihadist facilities across the country, reportedly igniting panic among some groups.
Russia launched its air campaign in Syria on September 30, making 120 combat sorties that hit 110 targets in just over a week, according to the Defense Ministry. Among the objects destroyed are:
The apparent goal of this phase of the operation is to undermine the militants’ capability to keep the pressure on government forces through constant raids and terrorist attacks, and to give the Syrian Army a breathing space to regroup and launch an offensive.
The targets of the Russian airstrikes were spread across Syria, from ISIS stronghold Raqqa in the northeast to the vicinity of the ancient city of Palmyra west of the Damascus-controlled western part of the country to the outskirts of Damascus in the south.
According to the Russian military, the bombing campaign has hurt the morale of the militant troops, sending thousands on the run.
3,000 terrorists leave Syria following Russian airstrikes – military source http://t.co/TCZIZ4pzVJpic.twitter.com/HVol6Skjl5— RT (@RT_com) October 6, 2015
Russia’s fleet of jets is varied as well. The core of it consists of well-tried workhorses like the Su-24 frontline bomber and the armored Su-25 ground-support fighter jet. Both planes were designed decades ago, although the Air Force brought the latest upgraded versions for the Syrian campaign.
Newer planes are also there, like the Su-34, which entered service in Russia last year. The Syrian theater offers Russian engineers a test-field to try the plane, which can hit targets from an altitude of 5,000 feet, far from the range of anti-aircraft weapons in the possession of the militants.
The Air Force is employing a number of bombs in the missions, from sophisticated and expensive laser-guided Kh-25Ls and steerable KAB-250s to the bunker-busting BETAB-500s free-falling and affordable FAB-500s. The variety means Russia can strike with pinpoint precision where necessary and bombard with devastating force where no collateral damage would be done.
Russia’s Syrian mission flies from a hastily reconstructed airbase south of Latakia. Just a couple of months ago it was an abandoned airfield, but now it sends dozens of sorties daily and hosts not only some of the most high-tech fighter jets on the planet, but also serves as a home for Russian combat pilots, technicians and support troops. Syrian soldiers and officers are at the base to help coordinate the war effort.
In addition to the aircraft used for reconnaissance and bombing, the base has plenty of capabilities to defend itself. Mil Mi-24s patrol the vicinity ready to hit any militants intent on firing portable surface-to-air missiles at the Russian planes. Tanks and other armor complete with commando troops are prepared to repel a massive raid.
Advanced Pantsir-S1 air defense vehicles and Krasukha-4 electronic warfare systems are covering the airspace – a contingency for third parties attempting to interfere with the Russian operation.
Imagine -- Raqqa was available for bombing and the USA did nothing. The Islamic state has nothing to hit back at choppers, leave alone jets.
And the Islamic state sent troops along one road to attack Palmyra -- why were they not bombed?
An American president with the support of an American Congress could’a done it in three days
Lesson in what can happen when you fight to win. We fight to win hearts. They fight to kill enemies.
” 3,000 terrorists leave Syria following Russian airstrikes”
Gee, I wonder where they’re going!
We used to do stuff like this. Back when we wanted to win.
Yeah Putin. Just Do It!
Expect a huge wave of refugee terrorists.
“An American president with the support of an American Congress could’a done it in three days”
You’ve just identified the problem. We have today neither an American President nor an American Congress! What we do have is a Marxist Half-breed Kenyan and a bunch of limp dicks who are scared of their own shadows.
OBAMA is looking like a fool.
“We fight to win hearts. They fight to kill enemies.”
Well said.
POSOTUS
“OBAMA is looking like a fool.”
Obama IS a fool.
“We used to do stuff like this. Back when we wanted to win”
Yep, ye ol’ vain one Odunga never wanted ISIS defeated. It was more important for Assad to go down for making a fool of him by crossing his pussy little “line in the sand” ISIS was his best bet to do it as Senator McNutcase’s Syrian Free Rebels had been stalemated.
I’m too old for the USAF, and I thought the Mig-25 Foxbat was the coolest airplane ever.
Russia had a lot of hot blond tennis players, but I wonder if Putin would allow a guy with a German last name into his Air Force?
Remember how we used to worry about ISIS overrunning Mosul, Fallujah, etc.? Putin is showing obama how real men do it.
That is because Obama never had any intention of destroying ISIS; he instead chose to manage the problem off the front pages of media coverage only to let it resurface later as a rationale for continuing to equip his preferred terrorists for a continued guerrilla war against Assad’s regime. Meanwhile Putin sends his nation’s forces in and handles ISIS like it should be handled.. crushed like the nest of vermin they are.
At this point, Assad’s regime, with all it’s many warts, is the sole legitimate power in Syria. If Russia’s propping it up gives some needed relief (as it appears to do) for Christian and other religious minorities, then so be it.
If only the U.S. had a strong dictator.
“An American president with the support of an American Congress could’a done it in three days”.........
The issue is NOT how many days it would have taken, the real issue is we DO NOT have a real “American” president, we have an imposter without a backbone and, a Congress who fails to resist him.
I have no doubt we would not be reading or discussing any of this IF we had a “real president”.
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