Russian involvement in Syrian crisis

[gadeshi]

So aren't these effective against helicopters? I suppose even One downed Russian helicopter will bring back the memories of soviet war in Afghanistan.

No. Russia is not so loss sensitive as you think.

Отправлено с моего XT1080 через Tapatalk

 

[nirranj]

No. Russia is not so loss sensitive as you think.

Отправлено с моего XT1080 через Tapatalk

I mean this could be used as a public relations weapon. The west and the MSM will be ready to feast on Russian blood spilled in Syria.

 

[gadeshi]

I mean this could be used as a public relations weapon. The west and the MSM will be ready to feast on Russian blood spilled in Syria.

Of course they will try to, they actually are doing it now using fakes. But their efforts are futile.

Отправлено с моего XT1080 через Tapatalk

 

[spikey360]

So aren't these effective against helicopters? I suppose even One downed Russian helicopter will bring back the memories of soviet war in Afghanistan.

These are effective against helicopters. But note, MANPADs do not and cannot act on their own. You need a radar to detect and track the target. Also note that all anti-air and radar systems are being taken out by Russian bombardment. Furthermore, aircrafts are being escorted by the yet unchallenged.. you guessed it.. Su-30s! So the chances of a downed Mi chopper is very low (still possible though).
Russia has learned many a lesson from the Soviet past. I suppose pre-empting another Afghan style heli shootdown scenario is something they have carefully considered before treading into Syria.

 

[pmaitra]

Iran MANPADS «Misagh» Hezbollah and a new batch of of Chinese MANPADS FN-6 at the FSA.

FSA here means free Syrian army????

Yes
..........................................

Hezbollah - Yes. (See flair on upper arm of uniform.)
FSA - No. (There is no such thing as FSA. It only exists in Pentagon speak.)

Hezbollah Flag

For helos I guess...
ISIS guys are too stupid to operate sophisticated serious AD systems anyway, so the choice is very narrow.

These are meant to be a deterrence against Turkish or Israeli helicopters, in case they enter Syria to help out the ISIS.

 

[pmaitra]

US Is Desperate to Avoid Syrian-Russian Win in Aleppo
Will send more arms to anti-Assad forces along with Saudi Arabia

(Zero Hedge) | Russia Insider

Originally appeared at Zero Hedge

You have to hand it to Washington. When it comes to foreign policy blunders, the US certainly isn’t afraid to double and triple down.

As a leaked diplomatic cable from 2006 definitively shows, the US has actively sought to stoke sectarian violence in Syria for at least the last ten years and part of that effort has involved coordinating with Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Turkey to support Sunni extremists.

That support led directly to what has to be considered the most absurd foreign policy outcome in the history of modern statecraft and we never tire of calling it out: Washington, Ankara, Riyadh, and Doha trained and equipped a group of fighters, told them to go and destabilize the Assad regime, and somewhere along the way, that group of fighters went rogue and metamorphosed into a insane band of black flag-waving, sword-wielding, white Nike-wearing, desert bandits hell bent on establishing a medieval caliphate.

Whether or not ISIS is still getting support now that they have gone completely native we’ll never know for sure, but what we do know is that despite the sheer ridiculousness of that “train and equip” exercise, the US and its regional allies went on to arm and fund still more Sunni extremists hoping against hope that they might manage to find the rebel Goldilocks zone and finally back a group that is all at once effective at fighting to overthrow the regime and not prone to going absolutely nuts in the process.

And if the original efforts to arm and train Syrian “freedom fighters” ended in tears of sorrow, more recent efforts have ended in tears of laughter. The Pentagon’s latest foray into building a Syrian proxy army began back in May with a completely ridiculous press release that attempted to explain the rebel “vetting” process. By the time summer rolled around, the US had only managed to field around 60 fighters. In July they were ambushed by al-Qaeda who kidnapped the group’s commander and deputy. By September, US Central Command Gen. Lloyd Austin admitted to Congress that only “four or five” fighters were still active on the ground. The rest had either been killed, captured, had defected to ISIS, or were lost in the desert.

Now that Russia is in the process of obliterating anything that even looks like a rebel and now that Hezbollah, the IRGC, and Tehran’s various Shiite militias are busy marching over anything that even looks like a Sunni extremist, Washington has resorted to resupplying America’s proxy armies. That is absurd for two reasons, i) it amounts to the US giving weapons to soldiers who are trying to kill the Russians and the Iranians, meaning Washington is literally waging a war against Moscow and Tehran with one degree of separation, and ii) the US is giving the Free Syrian Army anti-tank weapons to use against the very same Shiite militias who Washington supports in Iraq (i.e. they’re “allies” in Iraq, and enemies in Syria).

The effort to rearm the rebels is now more urgent than ever thanks to the fact that Russia and Iran are advancing on Aleppo. If Aleppo falls to the regime, it’s game over. Assad will effectively be restored and Putin and Soleimaini will turn their eyes west to ISIS and then, once Raqqa falls, they'll march and fly right on into Iraq. Amusingly, Moscow even offered to provide air cover for the Free Syrian Army if the US would be so kind as to point Russia to the group’s “patriots” who are defending the country against extremists. The FSA declined to accept help from The Kremlin.

Make no mistake, Washington and Riyadh understand all of the above.

Well, maybe not all of it.

They clearly haven’t learned much from the myriad failures that have accompanied the whole “train and equip Sunni extremists” strategy because now, the US and Saudi Arabia are set to step up support for the rebels fighting Russia and Iran in an astonishing (if characteristic) display of Einsteinian insanity. As always, the excuse is “fighting ISIS.” Here’s WSJ:

Secretary of State John Kerry and Saudi King Salman agreed to increase support for Syrian forces fighting Islamic State militants while backing international diplomatic efforts to begin a political transition in Damascus, U.S. and Saudi officials said.

The U.S. diplomat and Saudi monarch also coordinated on their countries’ joint efforts to fight the Islamic State terrorist organization that has gained control over large sections of Syrian and Iraqi territory in recent months.

“The secretary thanked the king for Saudi Arabia’s support to multilateral efforts to pursue a political transition in Syria…and reaffirmed our mutual goal of achieving a unified, pluralistic and stable country for all Syrians,” State Department spokesman John Kirby said after Mr. Kerry’s meeting on Saturday night with the Saudi monarch.​

Note the hypocrisy there. In fact, allow us to spell it out. Compare and contrast:

• Secretary of State John Kerry and Saudi King Salman agreed to increase support for Syrian forces.
• “The secretary thanked the king for Saudi Arabia’s support to multilateral efforts to pursue a political transition.”
  

So on the one hand, Kerry and Salman are paradropping more guns and ammo into Syria, and on the other, they’re patting themselves on the back for pursuing “a political transition.”

In any event, back to WSJ:

The U.S. and Saudi Arabia provide arms and training to rebel armies fighting in Syria. Washington, though, has refrained from backing insurgents who are directly fighting President Bashar al-Assad’s regime.​

That’s an interesting assessment, because we could swear that the Free Syrian Army has been the target of Russian (i.e. pro-regime) airstrikes, and we could also swear that the US provided them with more weapons just last week.

The American media can’t even keep Washington’s lies straight anymore.

Here’s a bit more from Reuters:

The United States and Saudi Arabia agreed to increase support to Syria’s moderate opposition while seeking a political resolution of the four-year conflict, the U.S. State Department said after Secretary of State John Kerry met King Salman on Saturday.

Kerry was in Riyadh for meetings with the Saudi monarch, crown prince, deputy crown prince and foreign minister - the last stop in a trip that also included Vienna, where he met counterparts from Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Russia.

“They pledged to continue and intensify support to the moderate Syrian opposition while the political track is being pursued,” the State Department statement said after Kerry’s meetings in Saudi Arabia. It did not spell out what kind of support would be offered.

Rebels have appealed for more military support from foreign backers, including Saudi Arabia, to confront major Syrian army offensives. Those offensives are backed by Lebanese Hezbollah and Iranian fighters and Russian air strikes.

The United States and Saudi Arabia, together with other states opposed to Assad, already provides some military support to Syrian rebels. That includes training by the Central Intelligence Agency and anti-tank missiles.​

So, coming full circle, Washington is once again doubling down on a strategy that has not only been a demonstrable failure, but has i) served to propel the rise of brutal terrorist organizations, ii) fomented discord on the way to sparking a civil war that’s cost hundreds of thousands of lives and left millions displaced, and iii) now threatens to ignite a world war, as the US and its regional allies are effectively encouraging the rebels to kill Iranian soldiers battling under cover of Russian air support.

Need we say more?

 

[pmaitra]

How Russia Will Eventually Kick the US out of Iraq

Joshua Krause | (The Daily Sheeple)

Originally appeared at The Daily Sheeple

Earlier this week I wrote about a strange occurrence in Iraq, involving a Russian machine gun loaded with Iranian ammunition, that was found mounted on an American tank. The Iraqi military had apparently lent this vehicle to a Shia militia (against the orders of the US Government), who wasted no time equipping it with the weapons they had acquired from their Iranian and Russian allies. All signs suggest that this event is a harbinger of things to come.

The Iraqi government happens to be an awkward transitory phase with their foreign policy. They are currently being supported by both the United States and the Russian-Iranian alliance. As we speak, there are two Russian generals stationed in an intelligence center in Baghdad, and Iranian advisers are helping the Iraqi military direct their war against ISIS. Iraqi officials have even said that they would welcome Russian airstrikes in their country, and they want a “full blown military alliance” with Russia, Iran, and Syria.

As you might expect, the United States isn’t taking this news very well. In fact, they’ve recently given the Iraqi government an ultimatum: It’s us or them.

The U.S. has told Iraq’s leaders they must choose between ongoing American support in the battle against militants of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and asking the Russians to intervene instead.

Marine Gen. Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said Tuesday that the Iraqis had promised they would not request any Russian airstrikes or support for the fight against ISIS.

Shortly after leaving Baghdad, Dunford told reporters traveling with him that he had laid out a choice when he met with Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi and Defense Minister Khaled al-Obeidi earlier Tuesday.

“I said it would make it very difficult for us to be able to provide the kind of support you need if the Russians were here conducting operations as well,” Dunford said. “We can’t conduct operations if the Russians were operating in Iraq right now.”​

Of course, this has less to do with our ability to work alongside the Russians, and more to do with our willingness. It’s also very telling. We didn’t tell the Iraqi’s that they can’t under any circumstances, work with the Russians. Like a scorned lover in an unfaithful relationship, we delivered a final, impotent demand to our former puppet regime. “You have to choose between him or me.”

Five years ago there wouldn’t have been a choice. We could just tell the Iraqi government what to do, and they had to fall in line because their country was such a mess. Our military was the only thing keeping the crazies from burning their nation to the ground.

But after we left, their country burned anyway. It was clear that they needed real help, and they’ve found it with Russia. We can longer tell them what to do because they’re in a desperate situation, and we no longer have the military prowess to boss them around, or to save them. That’s why our demands are so revealing. We’re no longer in a position to give orders. Russia’s campaign in the Middle East has revealed that our military is a paper tiger in the region.

So far the Iraqi government hasn’t made a decisive choice. They probably want to ditch the Americans, but they can’t quite bring themselves to do it. Here’s what Iraq’s Prime Minister had to say on the matter.

Reuters reports that the U.S. ultimatum to Iraq puts Abadi in a difficult position, as his own country’s ruling political alliance and some powerful Shiite groups have been pushing him to request Russian air support.

The news agency said a proposal to request Russian strikes had been put to Abadi last week, but that he was yet to respond.

“Abadi told the meeting parties that it wasn’t the right time to include the Russians in the fight because that would only complicate the situation with the Americans and could have undesired consequences even on long-term future relations with America,” Reuters quoted a senior Shiite politician close to Abadi as saying.​

He says he wants to maintain a long-term relationship with the US, but his willingness to work with our government’s enemies would suggest otherwise. However, they can’t afford to lose America’s support, at least not yet.

I suspect that they’re trying to decide on which superpower to side with, but the Russian-Iranian alliance isn’t quite ready to give them their full support. Their military forces are still tied down in Syria. So for now, Prime Minister Abadi is stuck with the Americans and their limited help, while he quietly allows Iraq’s militias to work with our Cold War enemy. Some help is better than no help, I suppose.

However, if the Russian’s successfully defeat all of the rebel factions in Syria, including ISIS, then all bets are off. They’ll be able provide full military support for Iraq, in which case their government will be able to kick our personnel out of the country, and welcome their new friends. The Russian-Iranian alliance will be able to finish what they started in Syria, and mop up what’s left of our proxy forces. At that point, everything our government has worked for in the Middle East will completely unravel, as well it should.

 

[jackprince]

These are effective against helicopters. But note, MANPADs do not and cannot act on their own.

MANPADs do not require radar support, only visual identification of target and they are not guided by radar. The seeker of MANPADs are either heat-seekers or laser-seekers. The effective range of MANPADs being about 5KM more or less, those are never much of effect against fighters unless operating at mountains, but they can be very effective to deny operations by Helis, since helis generally has to work closer to the ground they are in constant danger from them.

 

[pmaitra]

ISIS footage of Russian and Syrian air strikes and fierce fights in Jobar, Syria

Great Russian TV report from Salma, Al-Qaeda black hole at the Syrian border

 

[Akim]

These are effective against helicopters. But note, MANPADs do not and cannot act on their own. You need a radar to detect and track the target. Also note that all anti-air and radar systems are being taken out by Russian bombardment. Furthermore, aircrafts are being escorted by the yet unchallenged.. you guessed it.. Su-30s! So the chances of a downed Mi chopper is very low (still possible though).
Russia has learned many a lesson from the Soviet past. I suppose pre-empting another Afghan style heli shootdown scenario is something they have carefully considered before treading into Syria.

MANPADS are effective not only against helicopters, but also against the attack aircraft.

 

[LETHALFORCE]

IS air defense missiles and guns posing no threat to Russian aircraft in Syria

http://in.rbth.com/news/2015/10/09/...-no-threat-to-rusian-aircraft-in-syria_481277

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[gadeshi]

MANPADS are dangerous for any target which:
1 - Is not protected by advanced self-defence suit including IR/UV suppression channel.
2 - Fly lower than 5000m.
If you remove any of those clauses, MANPADS become useless.

So, there are only helos are in danger in Syria because they are old Soviet-built Mi-24P with Lipa IR suppressor, which is rather primitive for year 2015.

 

[Cadian]

KAMAZ-6350 armored artillery tractor with towed MSTA-B howitzer spotted in Syria.

 

[LETHALFORCE]

http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2015/10/27/iran_invited_to_syria_talks_with_russia_u_s.html

U.S., Basically Willing to Try Anything At This Point, Agrees to Invite Iran to Syria Talks

 

[Akim]

The Syrian army, despite the support of Russia, defeated again

Military powers of Syria again lost initiative and pass to the defensive almost on all line of contact. It is reported that for extreme twenty-four hours the Syrian army is forced was to stop an offensive on position of hits of the "Islam State" and forces of opposition. In spite of help of Russia in supplying with modern armaments and support from air, army of Syria it is not succeeded to obtain substantial successes. Ground forces even got in surroundings near-by the settlement of Aleppo and until now can not break through surroundings near-by the military air field of Kuveyrase, reports military- informant.com.Control after the largest in a country highway Damask-Aleppo, still in the hands of hits and insurgents. The Syrian general staff reported that at the defensive of military camp the commander of 80th brigade and his deputy perished in Нейрабе. Not specified the quantity of the lost fighters. Hits and forces of insurgents found a method to avoid the Russian aviation raids and artillery bombardments also. Basic command posts, ammunition dumps and supplies of weapon, bury deeply under earth. Terrorists began to use war experience in Afghanistan and dig up deep tunnels in order that to avoid bombardment from the side of Russia and Syria. Knocking out from the occupied positions of hits began very difficult and without application of scale surface operation is not possible. Military guidance of Syria and countries of allies was already accepted decision about the change of tactic/pl of conduct of battle actions. "Russia will grow efforts and will undertake all actions for suppression of terrorism and his distribution", - a minister for foreign affairs Sergey Lavrov declared on results colleges MFA of Russia and Belorussia.
http://military-informant.com/analy...podderzhku-rossii-vnov-terpit-porazhenie.html

 

[Akim]

KAMAZ-6350 armored artillery tractor with towed MSTA-B howitzer spotted in Syria.

.................................................................................

 

[Cadian]

.................................................................................

Well, that means it's a marines unit guarding Latakia.

 

[gadeshi]

Yes, BTR-82 based vehicle is PDM anti-diversal vehicle.

Отправлено с моего XT1080 через Tapatalk

 

[pmaitra]

Another video of Russia'n gunships on low level flight attack with rockets northern Homs Syria

Peshmerga captured ISIS terrorist in Sangale

Kurdish Peshmerga capture hundreds of ISIS as prisoners (English)

 

[pmaitra]

Female American soldier now fighting against ISIS says that the US is not doing enough.
EXCLUSIVE: N.C. mom joins Kurdish Peshmerga in fight against ISIS