[SeekAndFind]

So how does Syria fit in? The attack on April 13th went up against a 21st-century Russian superweapon–the S-400 Triumf air-defense system, a mobile state-of-the-art anti-aircraft and missile network featuring four distinct missile types targeting aircraft in any performance envelope from treetop level to high altitude – including stealth aircraft (at a range of 150 miles, yet). For a decade we have been assured by military analysts that the S-400 is a game-changer – a system that could rend the heavens in twain and call into question the very concept of air power under battlefield conditions.

And yet, last Friday, the epoch-making Triumf failed to let out so much as a peep as 105 cruise missiles trashed Bashar Assad's chemical warfare plants. Not a single SAM left the rack while the attack was proceeding. (The Syrians did fire over 40 missiles at nothing, but only after the attack was completed. This is standard behavior among Arab armed forces – the Libyans and Iraqis did the same thing.) The Russians claim to have shot down over 70 of the attacking cruise missiles. How do we know this isn't true? First, because the targets were utterly destroyed, and second, because the French were involved. If the Russians had shot down any U.S. missiles at all we would be hearing from Paris that American "missiles de croisière" are useless, and that's why we had to turn to the French, who invented the cruise missile in 1689. (This is scarcely an exaggeration – Emmanuel Macron has gone on record to state that it was he, le président de la France, who persuaded Donald Trump to carry out the strike.)

Russia today is what it always was – a Potemkin village hiding a nation in a state of suspended collapse. The sole thing keeping it up is brutality toward the ordinary Russian and threats against the rest of the world. This works only because the West allows to work – doing favors for the vozhd of the moment for the sake of peace and quiet, throwing our hands up and wailing whenever he shakes a rubber doomsday machine in our direction, and consistently selling the Russian people short. That's the way it was during the communist epoch, and that's the way it is today. It's time we pulled up the curtain on it, the same way we pulled up the curtain on the S-400 last weekend.

[McGruff]

...The attack on April 13th went up against a 21st-century Russian superweapon–the S-400 Triumf air-defense system...

BS. Don’t quit your day job.

[Buckeye McFrog]

Scary looking superweapons won’t do jack to fix his Denmark-sized economy.

[DarthVader]

Sorry to tell you but this article is useless. None of it is based upon reliable intel but speculation through think tanks and other analysts.

[Mr Ramsbotham]

Bombast versus bombs.

[montag813]

The only reason Putin is still alive is that oil is above $50 a barrel

[Dick Vomer]

I don't want to come off as an apologist or admirer of Putin when I say that just maybe they didn't use "the good stuff" in Syria.

They could be lying (as all politicians do) about the capabilities of the S-400 Triumf air-defense system, but why would they waste it in Syria. The weapon system could be analyzed and capabilites could be determined if they used it and then what? The US is really good at figuring out how stuff works and then developing a method to destroy things.

I think if anybody wants to know how an air defense system works they might try doing something over the Baltics or a little flyover the Kamchatka Peninsula.

I just think poking the bear is fun till it gets p#ssed off. Then it gets messy.

[Krosan]

That Putin's superweapon video was also remarkable as the place they hit with it looked kind of like Florida. Russians said any similarity is accidental.

Here's a freeze frame from the video for those who want to check with their lying eyes.

[billakay]

The attack on April 13th went up against a 21st-century Russian superweapon–the S-400 Triumf air-defense system...

BS. The S-400s are or around Latakia, and tracked the incoming missiles, but did not attempt to destroy any. Russia did not claim to have destroyed any missiles, as they did not even ATTEMPT to destroy any missiles. On the other hand, according to both Syrian and Russian tracking, a reasonable number of missiles WERE destroyed by Syrian batteries, the most modern of which is the S-200.

Lets not perpetuate lies and propaganda here.

[bmwcyle]

Just so there is no fighting in the war room.

[PapaBear3625]

And yet, last Friday, the epoch-making Triumf failed to let out so much as a peep as 105 cruise missiles trashed Bashar Assad's chemical warfare plants. Not a single SAM left the rack while the attack was proceeding.

It makes sense to expend expensive SAMs against $100M fighters. Against some old Tomahawks, it would be a bad trade.