Russian Military Uses Syria as Proving Ground, and West Takes Notice

NY Times ^ | October 14, 2015 | Steven Lee Myers and Eric Schmitt

[C19fan]

Two weeks of air and missile strikes in Syria have given Western intelligence and military officials a deeper appreciation of the transformation that Russia’s military has undergone under President Vladimir V. Putin, showcasing its ability to conduct operations beyond its borders and providing a public demonstration of new weaponry, tactics and strategy.

[PGR88]

The Russians have a strange policy that when fighting in a foreign land, they actually shoot to kill their enemies. ISIS captured on the battlefield are not shipped off to a far-away government-run madrassa and kept there as political footballs for years on end.

Very strange....

[Wildbill22]

Russian Spetznaz are known for dealing with a hostage situation with the proportion of capturing one of the captors, decapitating them, and throwing the head into the hostage situation, with a very clear message. “Live or die”.

I think it is effective against any opposition, but US lawyers who castrate our troops with rules of engagement seem to think otherwise.

The Russians; I don’t EVER want to fight them. I think THEY are our ultimate enemy, and I think they think the same.
-But think what you may of them, they do NOT operate under the self restricted rules of engagement we seem obligated to work under.

[tcrlaf]

There seems to be some genuine surprise at how well the latest-gen Russian equipment is working in Syria.

They didn’t send the Monkey guns, but top-line stuff.

The SU-34 seems to be the most surprising of all.
They are flying sorties 3-4 times a day, DAILY, without major maintenance breaks.

Try that in an FA-18.

[caww]

......Putin sends DEADLIEST 'Blazing Sun' flamethrower missile to Syria to wipe out ISIS......

RUSSIA'S army is preparing to deploy its most DEADLY weapon yet in the fight to wipe Islamic State (ISIS) from the face of the Earth..........The mobile killing machine features thermobaric weapons that are capable of destroying as many as eight tower blocks in one strike.......................Thermobaric warheads, which shoot flammable liquid around a target before igniting the air, are thought to have arrived in Syria last month..........Blazing Sun can fire up to 30 missiles in one go and is also equipped with a flamethrower that shoots a jet of fire metres into the air.

One journalist who has witnessed the use of the Blazing Sun missile launcher said: "The results are devastating. Not only is the explosion significantly longer and the shockwave significantly hotter and stronger than a conventional warhead, but all the oxygen in the near vicinity is also consumed, creating a partial vacuum."

A report by the CIA described the effect of a thermobaric weapon on targets in confined spaces, such as buildings, bunkers and tunnels, as "immense"..................................It said:..... "Those near the ignition point are obliterated. Those at the fringe are likely to suffer many internal, and thus invisible injuries, including burst eardrums and crushed inner ear organs, severe concussions, ruptured lungs and internal organs, and possibly blindness."

Source....express.co.uk

[Drew68]

They are flying sorties 3-4 times a day, DAILY, without major maintenance breaks.

Try that in an FA-18.

We can do that. The real difference is their planes are leaving with ordnance and returning without ordnance, unlike our fighters. We're just wasting jet fuel.

The Russians are dropping more bombs in a day than we drop in a month. And unlike us, they're probably not limiting their bombs to construction equipment.

[Daffynition]

Ivan IV “the Terrible” is building a new Soviet empire.

Nothing to see here. Move on quislings.