But not drinking this sh$%. It's only for nitwits.
Posted on 03/24/2016 10:44:48 PM PDT by Trumpinator
World | Thu Mar 24, 2016 4:09pm EDT
Russia's special forces officer killed in Syria: Interfax
MOSCOW
A Russian special forces officer has been killed in a combat operation near Palmyra in Syria, Interfax news agency reported on Thursday, citing a Russian military source in Syria.
"While performing a special task to direct Russian air strikes onto terrorist targets, a Russian special forces officer was killed," Interfax quoted a source at Russia's Khmeimim air base in Syria's Latakia province as saying.
There was no detail about when the officer died, with Interfax citing its source as saying only that he was on a combat mission "in the past week". Syrian government forces are trying to recapture Palmyra from Islamic State.
"The soldier died heroically, calling the strike onto himself after he was discovered and surrounded by terrorists," Interfax cited the source as saying.
The death would bring to seven the number of Russian servicemen known to have been killed in Syria during the Kremlin's five-month military campaign, which it said 10 days ago that it was winding down.
On Wednesday, Russia said for the first time that it has special forces in combat roles in Syria, suggesting the Kremlin has been more deeply engaged in the Syrian conflict than it has previously acknowledged.
(Excerpt) Read more at reuters.com ...
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+ XP +
But not drinking this sh$%. It's only for nitwits.
I’m wondering if Spooky could have allowed this operation to be accomplished with a little more spatial resolution, so to speak.
Possibly, but the Russians have never gone in for armed transport aircraft used as gunships - their doctrine assumes that their forces will not necessarily have air supremacy and may not even have air superiority in their areas of operation. They prefer heavily armed helicopter gunships and ground attack aircraft that can at least look after themselves in such an environment a la the WW2 Sturmovik, which gave more than a few German pilots ugly surprises.
Palmyra is delicate in that they are valuable ancient ruins. Russian doctrine of area bombardment would not be wanted here. So they need to expose their guys more for more accurate fire control. Just guessing.
And even with the latest upgrades, Spooky still isn’t exactly the most precise weapons platform. Spooky II is a gun-only platform that’s mostly for area effect and large point targets (the 105mm when fired from a plane isn’t exactly pinpoint accurate.)
The Stinger II configuration is a bit better with its missile-heavy armament, but at the same time they’ve got a much more limited time before they run out of ammo and can’t do much more. And conversely their missile armament reduces their ability to take out large groups.
yup yup
I am anxious to see the condition of Palmyra. I hope that not too much of the heritage is destroyed.
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