Syrian Arab Army (SAA)

Viktor wrote:What they need is load of Su-25/UAV/and more Thocka-U

I sew that clip but It would be interesting to see effect of that launch.

Viktor wrote:True but cutting their supply lines is essential for numerous reasons.

I have seen Syria Army using bulletproof vests, helmets, swarms of snipers etc ... but supply lines ... those needs to be cut and in a matter of one month terrorist will collapse.

I agree, but first of all more protection against simple weapons used by rebels. Syrian Army's losses are mostly connected with snipers and IED devices. The effect is, now women started to be draft to army troops. They operate on the check points mostly.

cyberspec wrote:

I agree, but first of all more protection against simple weapons used by rebels. Syrian Army's losses are mostly connected with snipers and IED devices. The effect is, now women started to be draft to army troops. They operate on the check points mostly.

I think the SAA is doing a lot better than what's reported on western channels and the rebels are suffering serious casualties in all these recent "offensives". That said, the SAA can't win a decisive victory since the rebels have safe heavens to retreat too and regroup and large scale foreign support.

Viktor wrote:Any idea what could this missile be?

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=ef7_1381815055

Pyrrus wrote:

Viktor wrote:Any idea what could this missile be?

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=ef7_1381815055

Tochka or Luna? SAA has both at its disposal. However, as for me it's a bit too long and thin for Tochka's missile

Viktor wrote:Any idea what could this missile be?

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=ef7_1381815055

TheArmenian wrote:

Viktor wrote:Any idea what could this missile be?

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=ef7_1381815055

From the below video posted on his channel, Igor Nadershyn (from ANNA News) implies it is a Tochka.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Gpw4AFLmVY

Until recently, the most modern tanks of the Syrian army were two hundred ordinary T-55 upgraded in Ukraine and brought up to a standard T-MW. They were installed new systems of guided weapons, fire control system "Wave" and DSHKM anti-aircraft gun.

To increase the survivability of combat vehicles was applied anticumulative dynamic protection "Contact", side skirts and a number of other technical improvements.

However, normal T-55 used in the Syrian army, until recently, were easy prey for the enemy. Antitank weapons pierced the armor, even where it had a maximum thickness. As a result the machine went out of order and they detonated the ammunition, killing the entire crew.

So far the attempts of the Syrian military to improve the protection of tanks tangible results did not bring. But recently, as noted by the experts, in the fighting in the mountainous qalamoun region, the Syrians began to use T-55, past effective modernization in the field of protection. Tanks got anticumulative screens, mounted dozer blades, and installed on the towers of anti-aircraft guns closed protective guards.

Experts say that the combat capability of these machines has increased significantly.

With Assad's Troops Stretched, Fighters Join NDF for Salary and Stability

A steady stream of Syrian men are joining the National Defense Force, a loyalist reserve force used by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad since 2012.

In October, 2012, Ahmed, a sergeant in the Syrian army, was fired after losing his weapon. He joined the National Defense Force (NDF) as a career move: to him, it was just another job.

"I have two children and I had to provide for them," says the 34-year-old from a town north of Damascus. With money dwindling, "there was no other way but to join the National Defense Forces, because they offered monthly salaries to those who joined."

Since the conflict began in 2011, a steady stream of men have elected to dodge their compulsory military service, avoiding a dangerous fight in rebel-held areas. But now many of those men are deciding to join the National Defense Force, a loyalist reserve force used by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad since 2012. The NDF is deployed to back up a Syrian army that has seen its ranks depleted by death, injury, desertion – and has been further stretched as new fronts open against the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS).

Many of those new recruits are joining up for financial reasons. The NDF ranks are often more appealing than the rigor imposed by the Syrian army; service isn't compulsory, while monthly salaries can feed and clothe families left back home.

Ahmed says he makes 15,000 Syrian pounds per month with the NDF – just under $100. But he says fighters also make money from fees leveled on drivers at checkpoints and road blocks, and from the spoils of battle.

"We have direct orders to collect whatever we want," he adds. "Our commanders tell us: 'The properties of your enemies are lawfully yours.' And then they take whatever they want as well."

Soon after the NDF's formation, Ahmed says trainers were brought in from Hezbollah and the Quds Force of Iran's Revolutionary Guards – both allies of the Assad regime. Ahmed says new recruits were also trained for battle by officers from Syria's own Republican Guard.

Ahmed's first mission saw him fighting alongside the Syrian army to break a rebel siege on a strategic military location in eastern Ghouta. On another occasion he went into Yabroud to back up Syrian army fighters.

"In Ghouta we were under the command of a general from the Syrian army," he says. "In Yabroud, we took orders from a Hezbollah commander, because there were Hezbollah fighters alongside us. We were at the front with Hezbollah, and we were charged with combing the areas that the Syrian air force had shelled."

For those who join solely for the financial benefits, injuries can end a career. The NDF often does not follow through on keeping injured soldiers on retainer, or on weaving them back into the fighting rotation. In 2013, Munther, a 29-year-old recruit, was injured while fighting in Aleppo province.

"After the injury I went home to recover. But my leave has been unpaid," he said. "So to make ends meet I'm currently a private Arabic language tutor."

The NDF earned a fearsome reputation among some civilian populations. Ismael, 52, lives in an area of southern Damascus that came under NDF control after falling to the regime.

"They are a constant pain in our lives," he says. "They are terrorizing people. Our homes are raided and searched for no reason, whenever they feel like it."

But others have a different point of view. In areas with heavy support for the Assad regime, residents say the NDF's fighters need to exert such force to protect their neighborhoods.

"The NDF is justified in its ways," says Alaa, who lives in the loyalist stronghold of Tartous.

"They keep the area secure and protect it from rebel forces."

http://www.syriadeeply.org/articles/2014/10/6205/assads-troops-stretched-fighters-join-ndf-salary-stability/

The National Defense Forces (NDF): By far the largest militia network in Syria, the NDF was created through the rebranding, restructuring, and merging of local Popular Committees and other pro-Assad armed groups starting in 2012. Numerous reports point to Iranian funding and training of NDF factions, including Alawite- and Christian-dominated groups in the Homs region, and even some Sunni Arab tribal groups in the far east of the country. The NDF network is organized under provincial commanders like Fadi Saqr, who runs the NDF in the Damascus region, but seem to be loosely overseen by a national coordinator—reportedly Brigadier-General Ghassan Nassour, a powerful officer based in Damascus. Reflecting the bottom-up organization of the movement, local branches seem to act with considerable autonomy and to be less than cohesive on the provincal level, though the state of NDF forces varies considerably across the country. While some NDF units are heavily armed with tanks and rocket launchers, and appear to function like military formations, others are poorly disciplined semi-criminal or sectarian gangs in civilian attire.

http://carnegieendowment.org/syriaincrisis/?fa=59215

George1 wrote:Iranian copies of the TOW anti-tank systems at the government forces in Syria







http://bmpd.livejournal.com/1521458.html