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Russian Tanks Got a Taste of U.S. TOW Missiles in Syria
https://nationalinterest.org/ ^ | July 23, 2021 | by Sebastien Roblin

Posted on 07/24/2021 7:55:21 PM PDT by RomanSoldier19

Here's What You Need to Remember: When Moscow intervened in Syria in 2015 on behalf the beleaguered regime of Bashar al-Assad, it also transferred around thirty T-90As to the Syrian Arab Army, as well as upgraded T-62Ms and T-72s. The Syrian military could desperately use this armored infusion, as it had lost over two thousand armored vehicles in the preceding years—especially after Syrian rebels began receiving American TOW-2A missiles in 2014.

The interconnected conflicts raging across the Middle East today have amounted to a dreadful human catastrophe with spiraling global consequence. One of their lesser effects has been to deflate the reputations of Western main battle tanks mistakenly thought to be night-invulnerable in the popular imagination.

Iraqi M1 Abrams tanks not only failed to prevent he capture of Mosul in 2014, but they were captured and turned against their owners. In Yemen, numerous Saudi M1s were knocked out by Houthi rebels. Turkey, which had lost a number of M60 Pattons and upgrade M60T Sabra tanks to Kurdish and ISIS fighters eventually deployed its fearsome German-built Leopard 2A4 tanks. ISIS destroyed eight to ten in a matter of days.

TOW vs T90

Link

(Excerpt) Read more at nationalinterest.org ...


TOPICS: News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: military; russia; syria; t90; tanks; tow
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1 posted on 07/24/2021 7:55:21 PM PDT by RomanSoldier19
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To: RomanSoldier19

” Syrian rebels began receiving American TOW-2A missiles in 2014.”

Meanwhile red blooded Law abiding Americans can’t even get TOW-2A missiles.

What a rip off.


2 posted on 07/24/2021 8:04:17 PM PDT by Redcitizen
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To: RomanSoldier19

One of my favorite G. Gordon Liddy descriptions was soldiers in the middle east “trying to find reverse in a Soviet tank”.


3 posted on 07/24/2021 8:05:46 PM PDT by samiam5
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To: RomanSoldier19
The turret gets a direct hit and then the gunner gets out of the turret and makes a run for it. That tells me that the turret (and therefore the tank) was intact. I bet the next 10 seconds of the video would have shows the T-90 backing into a more covered position.
4 posted on 07/24/2021 8:07:52 PM PDT by KarlInOhio (Police should refuse duty at NBA venues. Let them wallow in their desired chaos without police.)
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To: RomanSoldier19

Tanks are obsolete.
Piloted aircraft are on the verge.
Drones and cell phone apps are where warfare is heading.


5 posted on 07/24/2021 8:11:21 PM PDT by Born to Conserve
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To: RomanSoldier19

....the real lesson to be drawn was less about technical deficiencies and more about crew training, competent morale, and sound tactical employment matter more even than “invulnerable” armor.


This can’t be repeated enough. Expensive, high tech weaponry won’t save a military that is incapable of using it properly.


6 posted on 07/24/2021 8:17:56 PM PDT by rbg81 (Truth is stranger than fiction)
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To: RomanSoldier19

Shameful that we gave Syrian ISIS rebels TOW missiles. Utterly shameful. We switched sides in the war on terror and now fight beside Sunni Wahabbist extremists, the types who attacked America on 9/11.


7 posted on 07/24/2021 8:23:42 PM PDT by DesertRhino (A coup government may not claim the protection of the same constitution it overthrew. )
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To: KarlInOhio

If this was a monkey model that the Russians export there might have been no reactive armor on it. The jet may have penetrated the turret. The guy that crawled out may have been intact or only mildly wounded.


8 posted on 07/24/2021 8:28:37 PM PDT by 17th Miss Regt
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To: RomanSoldier19

They are blaming the tanks for being defeated. But watch the video of the Syrian war over the last 10 year’s and you will see gross incompetence by the tank crews.


9 posted on 07/24/2021 8:58:11 PM PDT by lurk ( )
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To: DesertRhino

*** Shameful that we gave Syrian ISIS rebels TOW missiles. Utterly shameful. We switched sides in the war on terror. ***

Whenever I see the legitimate government of Syria referred to as a “regime”, I can barely stomach reading further.

Now that China has pledged its support for the legitimate Syrian Government, will it be joining Russia? Should be interesting.

We are on the wrong side of history in Syria.


10 posted on 07/24/2021 9:05:24 PM PDT by sockmonkey (Conservative. Not a Neocon.)
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To: Born to Conserve

Then you really missed it. “Vaccines” and man-made viruses are actually the most modern weapons of war.


11 posted on 07/24/2021 9:13:50 PM PDT by Repent and Believe (...unless you shall do penance, you shall all likewise perish. - Jesus (Luke 13:3))
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To: DesertRhino

*** Shameful that we gave Syrian ISIS rebels TOW missiles. Utterly shameful. ***

Now that the Baby Al Hawa crossing on the Turkish Syrian border into the jihadi held territory around Idlib will remain open, weapons will continue to flow.


12 posted on 07/24/2021 9:19:14 PM PDT by sockmonkey (Conservative. Not a Neocon.)
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To: DesertRhino

Damn autocorrect. Bab Al Hawa.


13 posted on 07/24/2021 9:20:35 PM PDT by sockmonkey (Conservative. Not a Neocon.)
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To: Born to Conserve

And that is one of the reasons the Marine Corps is getting rid of tanks.


14 posted on 07/24/2021 9:22:51 PM PDT by Salvavida
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To: DesertRhino

What say you about Germany and Japan?


15 posted on 07/24/2021 10:39:06 PM PDT by lewislynn ( Supporting your social media is more harmful to the country than voting Democrat)
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To: lurk

In 1982 in dogfights over the Bekka Valley the Israeli Air Force shot down over sixty Syrian MiGs in a week without losing a single plane.

One Israeli pilot said of the Syrian pilots lack of aggression in the air “It was as if they wanted to die’’.


16 posted on 07/24/2021 11:10:14 PM PDT by jmacusa (America. Founded by geniuses . Now governed by idiots.)
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To: RomanSoldier19

...Syrian rebels began receiving American TOW-2A missiles in 2014.

Why were we getting involved in Syria?


17 posted on 07/24/2021 11:23:38 PM PDT by McGruff (PRES. BIDEN: You're not gonna get COVID if you have these vaccinations.)
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To: RomanSoldier19

And the birth of ISIS.

18 posted on 07/24/2021 11:26:25 PM PDT by McGruff (PRES. BIDEN: You're not gonna get COVID if you have these vaccinations.)
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To: RomanSoldier19

Ah, yes. I remember in 1990, and 2003, when Saddam Hussain was said to have the most incredible, battle-hardened forces, and we had no chance. They also bragged about all the Soviet and Russian tech. God bless our soldiers, sailors, airmen, marines, and National Guard.


19 posted on 07/25/2021 12:28:39 AM PDT by Ronaldus Magnus III (Do, or do not, there is no try. )
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To: sockmonkey

What real national interests does the US have in the Syrian perpetual war?


20 posted on 07/25/2021 1:09:34 AM PDT by robowombat (Orthodox )
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