Keep flexing that Russian muscle, Putin. Our ‘president’ will get busy eventually, and put more boots on the ground. If for no other reason than to not let Putin get all the glory of destroying ISIS. Destroying ISIS, not just possibly delaying them.
“. . . Idlib and Aleppo are not ISIS strongholds. Indeed, U.S.-backed rebels hold much of both provinces.”
Barry just got bitchslapped . . . Again.
One takeaway from that:
“Launching 25 bombers on one mission is an impressive undertaking. Russia possesses just 70 Backfires, 58 Bears, and 13 Blackjacks. The 14 Backfires, six Bears, and five Blackjacks that reportedly struck Syria represent a significant portion of the overall fleet. The massive raid is evidence of improving readiness on the part of the Russian air force, which in the 1990s and early 2000s grounded most of its aircraft because it couldn’t afford to fuel them or pay their pilots.
“By comparison, on any given day 57 of the U.S. Air Force’s 77 B-52s, 35 of its 60 B-1s, and nine of its 20 B-2 stealth bombers are even flyable, according to statistics from 2013.”
Surprised Obama hasn’t tried to glom credit yet.
I don’t understand why Putin is pussy-footing around with the small potatoes, wasting time and money. I’d nuke those muzzie pirates.
We need a GoFundMe page to buy more bombs for Vlad.
Other reports listed far fewer bombers taking part in the raid, but both agreed that they flew from Russia, and delivered a total of 34 cruise missiles.
No big carpet bombing on Tuesday, no squealing on twitter.
34 Cruise missiles is a lot more than they are accustomed to in Raqaa, but not greatly different from the last couple of days, in terms of the number of explosions, or total net explosive weight. Cruise missiles could be quite accurate though, if they had good targeting intel, it could have been a painful blow.
I did see a photo of one of the big bombers landing, in what was supposed to be Latakia, Syria. Perhaps they were re-positioning today, and didn’t carry a big bomb load, so they could fly the long distance.
If they will be based near the Syrian coast, it is a short flight to Raqaa, and iron mountains of bombs could be off-loaded from ships and dropped on Raqaa every day. If bombs are already in Syria, the party could start in earnest as soon as tomorrow, more like a week if they need bombs and Turkey lets a ship through the Bosphorus Straits, or a couple of weeks if the have to come around through Gibraltar.
If they do want to carpet bomb and make the earth shake, these are just the heavy bombers that could do it. Potentially hundreds of tons per day. If it is just a few bombers, they could each easily carry full 20 ton loads that short distance (vs. the 500lbs that make up a typical sortie that ISIS has been seeing).
France’s aircraft carrier, the Charles DeGaulle, is now scheduled to sail from its home port of Toulon on Thursday. It is a few days sail to the Syrian coast, where its 26 jets will also be within easy range of Raqaa. Some of the jets on deck look like ground attack aircraft, which would pack a bit more wallop than the others, but nothing like the big bombers.
Although not big by American standards, it is the biggest naval ship in service in Western Europe, and carries its own iron mountain of bombs to drop. It will take France from 12 jets in the fight, up to 38, with additional support and other capabilities.
So in the next days to weeks, Raqaa could see something that ISIS has not seen before - a mass casualty exercise.
By my reckoning Russia has dropped more bombs on ISIS in three days than the USAF has in a year. Where are all the Russophobes who told us Putin wasn’t interested in attacking ISIS?
I hope the Pentagon is paying attention. We are getting a real time demonstration of Russia’s capabilities.
Practice makes perfect.One thing you can say about Putin is he’s really honing his forces to a sharper edge.
meanwhile obammy has our military targeting Andy Gump Chemical toilets throughout the mid east.
Putin has two product lines , oil and weapons. Unlike China that grew out of the decades long communist depression, mother Russia did not.
Putin’s warrior efforts in Syria are in large part a Super Bowl like array of weapons commercials designed to convince his potential customers that his store is not only open but has the best weapons available for sale.
Finally...paybacks for A’stan
No doubt their troops are not hampered by restrictive rules of engagement. As a matter of fact, I’m sure ‘rules of engagement’ do not enter into their lexicon.
Putin is making nobama look like the ultraweight he is.
WOW! I’m almost 70 years old and this is the first time I’ve ever seen film or video of Russian BIG bombers in action!
Putin says it’s God’s job to forgive the terrorists and it’s his job to send them to God.