Posted on 10/17/2015 8:19:27 AM PDT by darkwing104
Russia has been using her newest weapons in attacks against anti-Assad rebel and terrorist forces in Syria. After two weeks the intelligence community and military officials are surprised by Russia’s transformation from the collapsed Soviet Union into a nation which can effectively project power beyond its borders. In fact, “surprise” is too mild a description; actually they were shocked that Russia could pull it off.
Unfortunately-and perhaps, tragically- too many analysts in the American intelligence community are still stuck in a cold war mentality, unable to join with current events by believing that Vladimir Putin could modernize the Russian military. Now Putin is just beginning to display a modern Russian force which can project power without resorting to nuclear or economic threats. The show of force is also sending a message to Ukraine. Russia has apparently learned from its mistakes in Afghanistan, Chechnya and the Republic of Georgia.
Russia is “providing a public demonstration of new weaponry, tactics and strategy.” Sukhoi Su-34 Fullbacks, Su-30 Flanker-Cs, Su-25 Frogfoots, and Su-24 Fencers have been used to demonstrate the expertise of the Russian Bear in bombing terrorists. Even the Russian navy is participating by launching ship-based cruise missiles from locations more than 900 miles into the Caspian Sea. How much of this technology was gathered by soy and Russian hackers?
A new cold war has begun and all Obama and Kerry can do in response is bluster. Talk, however, is cheap, befitting both the American president and his imbecilic, overmatched Secretary of State. America, under Obama’s Rules of Engagement, is being restricted-deliberately restricted- from effectively fighting against ISIS. Obama’s best chance to “Arab Spring” Assad has been stolen by Putin who is already down the court dunking for two easy points. Obama is way out of his league regarding foreign
(Excerpt) Read more at coachisright.com ...
Note the plethora of aircraft Putin is providing. And of course tanks, BTRs,BMPs,ZSU-30,etc. Even the Buratino has reported to be there in Syria.
This was obvious to me when they were firing those new cruise missiles from the Caspian Sea.
Historically it reminded me of the Nazi’s testing the Luftwaffe in the Spanish civil war.
Yeah, those Cruise Missiles were close, only 2 countries off of target.
A possible warm-up for eastern Ukraine.
How many dropped out of the sky on Iran?
You hit on the head. Syria for Russia is like Spain for Germany.
That was my first thought - everything old is new again. Different aircraft and insignia, but . . .
The Condor Legion in Spain: 
So are we going to send the “Abraham Lincoln Brigade” to Syria?
Point is, they're being evaluated in real combat situations, allowing engineers to determine what went wrong and fix it. Kinda like our much-ballyhooed Patriot Missile.
I wouldn't put it past obama if things REALLY got bad for his boys.
As a sidebar, I lived in NYC in the '50s and one of the residents was a ALB vet. Didn't talk about the fighting but sang all the old revolutionary songs with such passion that he sometimes had tears in his eyes. We heard "The Internationale" a lot.
You owe me a new keyboard. The facial expressions are priceless. Placed in my archives.
RUSSIA'S army deployed its most DEADLY weapon yet in the fight to wipe Islamic State (ISIS) from the face of the Earth..........The mobile killing machine features thermobaric weapons that are capable of destroying as many as eight tower blocks in one strike.......................Thermobaric warheads, which shoot flammable liquid around a target before igniting the air, are thought to have arrived in Syria last month..........Blazing Sun can fire up to 30 missiles in one go and is also equipped with a flamethrower that shoots a jet of fire metres into the air.
One journalist who has witnessed the use of the Blazing Sun missile launcher said: "The results are devastating. Not only is the explosion significantly longer and the shockwave significantly hotter and stronger than a conventional warhead, but all the oxygen in the near vicinity is also consumed, creating a partial vacuum."
A report by the CIA described the effect of a thermobaric weapon on targets in confined spaces, such as buildings, bunkers and tunnels, as "immense"..................................It said:..... "Those near the ignition point are obliterated. Those at the fringe are likely to suffer many internal, and thus invisible injuries, including burst eardrums and crushed inner ear organs, severe concussions, ruptured lungs and internal organs, and possibly blindness."
Yep. While we were scoffing Russia for having an economy the size of Texas, they were using their Texas-sized economy to build stuff that blows up real good.
Yes, interesting isn’t it?
However, in this context more frightening than interesting.
The parallels of the times are staggering aren’t they?
Frogfoots and Fencers are hardly modern weapons.
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