Russian military intervention and aid to Syria #3

BREAKING: #Syria is closing #Latakia civilian airport in order to expand #RusAF bombing raids capacity from 60 to 200 per day.
https://twitter.com/sbobkov/status/653994169401085952

Lets see if this is confirmed

I'm pretty sure Nato was conducting more than 200 sorties per day in YU (I can't remember the number at it's height).

Russia would need extra aircraft to reach 200 per day IMO....we'll see

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Su-34

Russian jet-fighter raiding Daret Ezzeh northern #Aleppo CS
https://twitter.com/Syria_Protector/status/653967206854864902

Cyberspec wrote:BREAKING: #Syria is closing #Latakia civilian airport in order to expand #RusAF bombing raids capacity from 60 to 200 per day.
https://twitter.com/sbobkov/status/653994169401085952

Lets see if this is confirmed

It was not like the Latakia civilian airport was being used for civilians, they will have to make adjustments to it but that should not be a big deal, the Russian Air Force will need more aircraft to achieve that many bombing raids, any guess on what they will use?

par far wrote:

Cyberspec wrote:BREAKING: #Syria is closing #Latakia civilian airport in order to expand #RusAF bombing raids capacity from 60 to 200 per day.
https://twitter.com/sbobkov/status/653994169401085952

Lets see if this is confirmed

It was not like the Latakia civilian airport was being used for civilians, they will have to make adjustments to it but that should not be a big deal, the Russian Air Force will need more aircraft to achieve that many bombing raids, any guess on what they will use?

How about some of those battle robots they are testing right now? Drop one of those on enemy's position and control it via uplink. That's going to scare the hell out of them

Admiral K is back in the game as well, maybe he should take a little ticki-tour toward the Syrian coast eh? He really does deserve some combat ops.

http://russia-insider.com/en/military/evidence-covert-us-forces-southern-syria/ri10470

Evidence of Covert US Forces in Southern Syria

There's massive US presence over the border in Jordan

Since they'll need to conduct more CAS missions, another Su-25 squadron + one more Helicopter gunship squadron would be nice....and bring up the Su-34's to a full squadron


There are rumours that the Kuznetsov will be heading to the Mediterenean

sepheronx wrote:

Cyberspec wrote:BREAKING: #Syria is closing #Latakia civilian airport in order to expand #RusAF bombing raids capacity from 60 to 200 per day.
https://twitter.com/sbobkov/status/653994169401085952

Lets see if this is confirmed

This is interesting.  I was talking to my coworker today and he said he read in the paper about an ex-CIA agent that stated that if the US was really committed to defeating ISIS or any terrorist group, they need to fly similar sorties over Syria/Iraq as they did in Yugoslavia.  Something around 200 sorties daily.

So this could be indication that Russia is going to rack up the bombings in order to complete its objective.

I wonder though, if the shipments containing tanks will also contain a ton of ammunition too.

The Project 775 large landing craft that are the backbone of the 'Syrian Shuttle' like Azov, are on roughly an 18 day round trip. There are about 8 ships, not all Project 775, on the job. Assuming the average load is the same as for the Project 775, a cargo capacity of around 500 tons, that's a sea-lift capacity of around 4000 tons per 20 days or 200 tons a day. The cargo will be a mix of all types of vehicles from tanks to trucks plus as much other 'stuff' they can fit around them without sinking the ship!

In addition there are tankers bringing in fuel to supplement local supply. If Russia is increasing its attack rate it will be interesting to see how it handles the sea logistics process. In particular, Tartous can handle Ro-Ro car ferries so will we see Russia contract one of those? We already know that the Yauza, a cargo ship, has been re-deployed from the Northern Fleet presumably to assist. This is one of those rare moments when they needed those Mistrals, mainly as ferries mind you!

sepheronx wrote:

JohninMK wrote:

sepheronx wrote:

Cyberspec wrote:BREAKING: #Syria is closing #Latakia civilian airport in order to expand #RusAF bombing raids capacity from 60 to 200 per day.
https://twitter.com/sbobkov/status/653994169401085952

Lets see if this is confirmed

This is interesting.  I was talking to my coworker today and he said he read in the paper about an ex-CIA agent that stated that if the US was really committed to defeating ISIS or any terrorist group, they need to fly similar sorties over Syria/Iraq as they did in Yugoslavia.  Something around 200 sorties daily.

So this could be indication that Russia is going to rack up the bombings in order to complete its objective.

I wonder though, if the shipments containing tanks will also contain a ton of ammunition too.

The Project 775 large landing craft that are the backbone of the 'Syrian Shuttle' like Azov, are on roughly an 18 day round trip. There are about 8 ships, not all Project 775, on the job. Assuming the average load is the same as for the Project 775, a cargo capacity of around 500 tons, that's a sea-lift capacity of around 4000 tons per 20 days or 200 tons a day. The cargo will be a mix of all types of vehicles from tanks to trucks plus as much other 'stuff' they can fit around them without sinking the ship!

In addition there are tankers bringing in fuel to supplement local supply. If Russia is increasing its attack rate it will be interesting to see how it handles the sea logistics process. In particular, Tartous can handle Ro-Ro car ferries so will we see Russia contract one of those? We already know that the Yauza, a cargo ship, has been re-deployed from the Northern Fleet presumably to assist. This is one of those rare moments when they needed those Mistrals, mainly as ferries mind you!

Maybe that is why Ivan Gren is actually now going to be used.  If it turns out to be effective, hopefully they stick to a single design and make more of them.

Is it active yet? It can carry 1000 tons.

Just found this, don't think its been linked, if it has, sorry. My highlight, not read that before. It is Putin talking on Sunday evening Voskresnyy Vecher [Sunday Evening]

[video time 09:49-11:37]
"Kalibr missiles: they have not been in service very long - since 2012. They have a range of 1,500 kilometers, as a matter of fact, which has already been stated. But these are, of course, technologically advanced, high-precision modern weapons. We plan to rearm the entire Russian military not only with these types of missiles, but also with this new generation of land-based hardware and aviation technology. These are truly complex systems, and, as their employment has proven, extremely effective... As you yourself said, [they flew] over the territory of other nations. Along the flight path, they made 147 turns, flew at altitudes of between 80 and 1,300 meters... at a speed comparable to a jet aircraft - everyone knows this. The thing is that this isn't classified information. In principle, all of our partners, at a minimum at the expert level, are aware that Russia has such [high-precision] weapons. It's one thing, at the expert level, to know that Russia supposedly has such weapons. It's another thing to be convinced that: first - they really exist and our defense industrial complex is producing them; second - that they are of high quality; third - that there are well-trained, well-prepared people who can effectively employ them; and fourth - that Russia has the will to use them if it satisfies the national interests of our state and our people."


It won't take long for others to see through Putin's own words that a driving factor for launching land-attack cruise missiles was, in fact, to prove to the rest of the world that Russia can and will carry out such launches if doing so satisfies Russia's interests -- despite the hefty price tag of the missiles.

Courtesy of http://7fbtk.blogspot.co.uk/2015/10/in-putins-own-words-why-we-launched.html

[quote="sepheronx"][quote="JohninMK"][quote="sepheronx"]

JohninMK wrote:

sepheronx wrote:

Cyberspec wrote:

Maybe that is why Ivan Gren is actually now going to be used.  If it turns out to be effective, hopefully they stick to a single design and make more of them.

Is it active yet? It can carry 1000 tons.

On Trial again.

Do we know where?

Cyberspec wrote:Since they'll need to conduct more CAS missions, another Su-25 squadron + one more Helicopter gunship squadron would be nice....and bring up the Su-34's to a full squadron


There are rumours that the Kuznetsov will be heading to the Mediterenean

I hope so, would be great to see the kuznetsov get some action, russia has played with cruise missiles so it might as well get all the toys out and get a carrier in on the action too.

VKS conducts 88 sorties....new record....going for an even 100
http://sputniknews.com/middleeast/20151013/1028456707/russia-airstrikes-syria.html

PapaDragon wrote:

We still haven't seen Kilo subs launching Kalibrs, maybe that is the next big thing?

Launched from the Gulf of course

PapaDragon wrote:

Rodinazombie wrote:

Cyberspec wrote:Since they'll need to conduct more CAS missions, another Su-25 squadron + one more Helicopter gunship squadron would be nice....and bring up the Su-34's to a full squadron


There are rumours that the Kuznetsov will be heading to the Mediterenean

I hope so, would be great to see the kuznetsov get some action, russia has played with cruise missiles so it might as well get all the toys out and get a carrier in on the action too.

Well if you have proper air base there is little need to use AC although it would make for pretty video footage. Maybe that is the point...

I believe there is carrier based version of Su-25 or I might be wrong.

We still haven't seen Kilo subs launching Kalibrs, maybe that is the next big thing?

Haha you never know, russia doesnt do foreign military adventures like the west does, so its using this opportunity to really show off, those 26 missiles dired in action have done more to showcase russias strength than a thousand test fired in russia would have done.

I wonder as this progresses, how much more new equipment we will see tested.

max steel wrote:http://russia-insider.com/en/military/evidence-covert-us-forces-southern-syria/ri10470

Evidence of Covert US Forces in Southern Syria

There's massive US presence over the border in Jordan  

There's a link in that article to another one. I read it earlier today. It stated a few interesting things, but wasn't sure if true:

Elijah J M | ايليا ج مغناير
Middle East Politics
https://elijahjm.wordpress.com/2015/10/12/seven-thousand-of-al-haydareyeen-the-fatimids-the-irgc-and-hezbollah-ready-for-the-battle-of-idlib/

“Al-Rai” learned from a high ranking source in joint operation room in Baghdad, which includes Russia, Syria, Iraq, Iran and Hezbollah (4+1) that “the Russian operation Air Command room in Syria expressed the need to increase the number of daily air strikes from 60 to 200 and up to 300  to cover three fronts extending from Latakia to rural countryside of Idlib and Aleppo. This is the minimum required to allow an effective progress of the attacking forces engaged and those ready to take part of the battle to retake further strategic objectives. ”

The source explained, “The first wave of attack, which began a week ago, is, in the military term, a forced reconnaissance to test the readiness, reaction and defense strategy and effectives of the enemy”.

“There are new forces prepared to support the Syrian troops. These include about 7,000 fighters distributed as follows: Al-haydareyeen Iraqis Forces (2000 fighters), the Fatimids Afghan forces (2000 fighters), the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps ( 2,000 fighters) and the elite of Hezbollah (1000 fighter), These have not yet been pushed into the battle of reef Idlib, awaiting for the Russian Air Force to increase their sorties. So far, we can say that Jaish al-Fath that includes al-Qaeda (Jabhat al-Nusra) was not affected, as we have hoped, by the first wave of attack. These will receive more lethal weapons from the United States and their allies. Therefore, we all agreed, with Moscow, that the Russian air force would step up their missions and strikes in the coming days.”

Like I said, I wasn't sure what to make of that. But, this just appeared on sputnik, so maybe there's something to it:

1000s of Iranian Troops Enter Syria for Offensive Backed by Russian Strikes
http://sputniknews.com/middleeast/20151014/1028487170/Iranian-Troops-Aleppo-Offensive.html#ixzz3oVKrykbt

“The big battle preparations in that area are clear,” one of the officials told Reuters. “There is a large mobilization of the Syrian army…elite Hezbollah fighters, and thousands of Iranians who arrived in stages in recent days.”