Russia's reaction in case of US/West attack to Syria

"Yet, unlike Libya, Russia has pledged their support to the Assad government and they are actually backing it up with military firepower.

You can no longer pretend to be a peaceful pro-democracy movement when you’re using rocket-propelled grenades and machine guns to assault a military base"

And Libya.. they might end up with islamists with shaaria laws, as Tunisia and Egypt also might.
A far worse faith then what they had if you ask me.

Who will "win"? What will the results be if say, 2 US ships are sunk with the loss of hundreds of lives by russian missiles?

A more important question, has the russian ships the technology to defeat US ships and missiles, or are they easy prey for the harpoons?

GarryB wrote:Libya had made a lot of noises and ordered quite a bit of Russian gear but was clearly more in bed with the west than with Russia.
The sudden release of the guy in prison for the bombing at lockerbie and the sudden thaw in relations is very suspect to me... there were a lot of skeletons and secret agreements.. gaddafi had to die to protect those secrets and apart from complaints that NATO was abusing a UNSC resolution the Russians really didn't care much about Libya... they were not a staunch friend and ally like India or Vietnam, they were more like Iran... a potential source of income that clearly had upset the west in some way... whether it was by not handing over natural resources at bargain basement prices, or having a socialist type government that provided free education and healthcare to its people paid for by the mineral wealth of the country... imagine the very thought of a country expecting to gain a benefit from its mineral wealth... instead of letting big western companies go in there and steal it all for the cost of a few bribes to the right people.

Russia saw what happened in Libya and likely were surprised that the west so brazenly picked a side in a civil war and implemented a policy of regime change under the guise of humanitarian assistance...

Neither Iran, nor Russia can afford that to happen to Syria.

BTW the Arab league is a joke... it suspends Syria for its brutality against its own citizens, yet there are 15,000 in detention in Egypt and 40 were recently killed in legitimate protests and they say nothing.

And Libya.. they might end up with islamists with shaaria laws, as Tunisia and Egypt also might.
A far worse faith then what they had if you ask me.

But this is the leadership many seem to be demanding.

I say leave them to it. Being free is a state of mind... not a state of government.

Who will "win"? What will the results be if say, 2 US ships are sunk with the loss of hundreds of lives by russian missiles?

US and Russian ships will not fire on each other over Syria.

A more important question, has the russian ships the technology to defeat US ships and missiles, or are they easy prey for the harpoons?

Are US sailors issued with 10 million SPF+ sunscreen?
Unless they launch an enormous salvo of Harpoons most Russian naval vessels are well defended against subsonic low flying missiles.

How are these US vessels going to justify an attack?
Russian vessels are blocking arms smugglers and protecting Syrian waters.

Agree, its not up to the UN or the US to decide over all civilasations, and how they are governed. In that case, start your bombing runs over North Korea, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, and why not... CHINA, for example.

I for one dont call the US with two parties a democratsy. So, maybe the we should bomb the US into a european/Italien style, with 10-20 parties.

Stranger things have happend in the distant seas. I wouldnt count on it.

Unless their ECM is wiped out, which leaves them blind.

How about; They fired first, justification. It has worked before as you have mentioned, Vietnam.

Sea alert: Russian warships head for Syria

Moscow is deploying warships at its base in the Syrian port of Tartus. The long-planned mission comes, providentially, at the very moment when it could help prevent a potential conflict in the strategically important Middle Eastern country.

­The Russian battle group will consist of three vessels led by the heavy aircraft-carrying missile cruiser, Admiral Kuznetsov.

Russian military officials insist that the move has no connection with the ongoing crisis in the region and was planned a year ago, the Izvestia newspaper reports. Apart from Syria, the aircraft carrier and its escort ships are set to visit the Lebanese capital, Beirut, Genoa in Italy and Cyprus, says the former Chief of Naval Staff, Admiral Viktor Kravchenko.

Nevertheless, he added that the presence of a military force other than NATO’s is very useful for this region, because “it will prevent the outbreak of an armed conflict,” Izvestia quoted Kravchenko as saying.

The Soviet Union, the Admiral recalled, created a special naval squadron to deter Western military forces in the Mediterranean Sea. To repair and supply its ships, Moscow needed its own maintenance base in the region, and that was how the base in Tartus came into being.

At present, the base is mostly used to support vessels of Russia’s Black Sea fleet. Some 600 military and civilian personnel of the Defense Ministry serve there.

News of Russia’s naval deployment in Tartus came shortly after the US nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS George HW Bush anchored off Syria, along with additional naval vessels. The US battle group is to remain in the Mediterranean, allegedly to conduct maritime security operations and support missions as part of Operations Enduring Freedom and New Dawn. The US 6th Fleet is also patrolling the area, Interfax reports.

“Of course, the Russian naval forces in the Mediterranean will be incommensurate with those of the US 6th Fleet, which includes one or two aircraft carriers and several escort ships,” Admiral Kravchenko explained. “But today, no one talks about possible military clashes, since an attack on any Russian ship would be regarded as a declaration of war with all the consequences.”

The mission is set to start in early December, when the Admiral Kuznetsov begins its journey in the Barents Sea, accompanied by another vessel of Russia’s Northern Fleet, the heavy ASW ship Admiral Chabanenko. The group will then skirt the European continent from the west and enter the Mediterranean through the Strait of Gibraltar.

Later, they will be joined by frigate Ladny of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet. It will travel through the Bosphorus, with a stop-over in Malta’s Valletta.

Admiral Kuznetsov will be carrying eight Sukhoi Su-33 all-weather fighters, two Kamov Ka-27 anti-submarine helicopters and several brand new Mig-29K fighters. The Mig fighters were built for India’s air force and are supposed to be “tested” during their first assignment.

Military officials have stressed that all flights will be performed in open waters, away from the Syrian coast.

Unlike American aircraft carriers, designed largely as floating runways, Admiral Kuznetsov is a heavily-armed aircraft-carrying cruiser. Its primary armaments, among others, are 12 long-range surface-to-surface anti-ship Granit cruise missiles, a six-gun short-range surface-to-air missile system Kinzhal, eight close-in air defense Kashtan gun-missile systems and two UDAV-1 anti-submarine systems.

The Admiral Kuznetsov has already been twice to the port of Tartus during its assignments in the Mediterranean and Atlantic Ocean in 1995 and 2007.

Sea alert: Russian warships head for Syria

Moscow is deploying warships at its base in the Syrian port of Tartus. The long-planned mission comes, providentially, at the very moment when it could help prevent a potential conflict in the strategically important Middle Eastern country.

­The Russian battle group will consist of three vessels led by the heavy aircraft-carrying missile cruiser, Admiral Kuznetsov.

Russian military officials insist that the move has no connection with the ongoing crisis in the region and was planned a year ago, the Izvestia newspaper reports. Apart from Syria, the aircraft carrier and its escort ships are set to visit the Lebanese capital, Beirut, Genoa in Italy and Cyprus, says the former Chief of Naval Staff, Admiral Viktor Kravchenko.

Nevertheless, he added that the presence of a military force other than NATO’s is very useful for this region, because “it will prevent the outbreak of an armed conflict,” Izvestia quoted Kravchenko as saying.

At present, the base is mostly used to support vessels of Russia’s Black Sea fleet. Some 600 military and civilian personnel of the Defense Ministry serve there.

News of Russia’s naval deployment in Tartus came shortly after the US nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS George HW Bush anchored off Syria, along with additional naval vessels. The US battle group is to remain in the Mediterranean, allegedly to conduct maritime security operations and support missions as part of Operations Enduring Freedom and New Dawn. The US 6th Fleet is also patrolling the area, Interfax reports.

“Of course, the Russian naval forces in the Mediterranean will be incommensurate with those of the US 6th Fleet, which includes one or two aircraft carriers and several escort ships,” Admiral Kravchenko explained. “But today, no one talks about possible military clashes, since an attack on any Russian ship would be regarded as a declaration of war with all the consequences.”

The mission is set to start in early December, when the Admiral Kuznetsov begins its journey in the Barents Sea, accompanied by another vessel of Russia’s Northern Fleet, the heavy ASW ship Admiral Chabanenko. The group will then skirt the European continent from the west and enter the Mediterranean through the Strait of Gibraltar.

Later, they will be joined by frigate Ladny of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet. It will travel through the Bosphorus, with a stop-over in Malta’s Valletta.

Admiral Kuznetsov will be carrying eight Sukhoi Su-33 all-weather fighters, two Kamov Ka-27 anti-submarine helicopters and several brand new Mig-29K fighters. The Mig fighters were built for India’s air force and are supposed to be “tested” during their first assignment.

Military officials have stressed that all flights will be performed in open waters, away from the Syrian coast.

Unlike American aircraft carriers, designed largely as floating runways, Admiral Kuznetsov is a heavily-armed aircraft-carrying cruiser. Its primary armaments, among others, are 12 long-range surface-to-surface anti-ship Granit cruise missiles, a six-gun short-range surface-to-air missile system Kinzhal, eight close-in air defense Kashtan gun-missile systems and two UDAV-1 anti-submarine systems.

"Light up, and you will swim ashore" tactic they used against russian ship in Libya in 1980`s.

Sound like a legimitate reason for russian ships to be there, protect their citizens.

Of course they dont count to win a battle in NATO sea. Not a gun battle, but maybe a physkological one. We`ll see.

I still would have wanted Peter the great sailing with the K and not a destroyer from the 80`s with very limited AA capability. Though ASW can be useful, the K has the choppers for that.

Talk about these pilots will have to have ice in their weins, as the US pilots will do anything they can to annoy and trigger a reaction.

Kysusha wrote:So, is it really a case of “bad weather” stopping an Aircraft carrier of 60,000 tonnes and her fleet, when fishing fleets were at sea, or are we seeing something akin to old fashioned gunboat diplomacy here?

Firstly, it certainly took the Poms by surprise to see the fleet there and they have slipped in quite un-noticed. Secondly, is this a case of don’t meddle in Syria the way you did in Libya??

Kysusha wrote:Why do you refer to it as “Russians smuggling weapons” when Merika sells weapons all over the world and no one accuses them of smuggling??

Hell, the CIA even arms two sides of a conflict.

So, OK for Merika to sell arms, but Russia has to smuggle them???! ! !

Need to look at our values here.

The USS Bush was an attempt to call Russias bluff. Russias decision to send the Kuznetsov and to deliver the Yakhonts was the Russians putting a winning hand of cards on the table.

I would expect them to visit Cyprus and Egypt, as the latter is free from influence of US.