Posted on 03/19/2016 10:01:24 AM PDT by Olog-hai
Russia can ramp up its military presence in Syria “in hours” if need be, Vladimir Putin has said in an apparent warning to anyone considering taking advantage of his decision to withdraw forces from the country.
Mr. Putin made the comments as he addressed more than 700 servicemen who have completed tours of duty in the Kremlin on Thursday afternoon. […]
The comments are bound to fuel suspicions about the true nature of the Russian withdrawal in Western capitals.
Despite declaring the mission over, Mr. Putin has previously made clear that substantial garrisons will remain in Syria at the Hmeymim airbase and Tartus naval facility. …
(Excerpt) Read more at telegraph.co.uk ...
Within Hours? Amazing! We couldn’t save our guys in Benghazi, maybe we should have asked Putin to do it.
Don’t be fooled - they still have most of their forces still in Syria they’ve just altered the air mix from all Jet to Jet/Hilo. One of the unreported reasons fro the new mix is that (after losing 2 jets one to Turkish F-16 [SU-224] and another to mechanical problems {MiG-21}) their mission has changed to more CAS. None of the planes initially there were particularly well-suited for CAS as they lacked any modern defense against MANPADs.
With the introduction of the Mi-28 and KA-52NM (sort of like US Apaches), they can now not only showcase another military export but also go low.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.