All that Russia would have to do is deny Turkey the green light for air access over Efrin Syria.
If there is a supply of the 9M113 Konkurs missiles, that YPG just used to take out what was a very likely a Leopard 2A4TR tank today, this might become a Turkey shoot. smile.
See this Twitter Thread:
https://twitter.com/MinsterTX/status/959790571421388801
Several 9M113s mounting 2006-production 9N131M2-1 tandem-warhead ‘Abrams killer’ warheads have been documented as being in Syria as far back as 2013. This is the latest spec that the Russians field, not the normal export version (9N131M is the usual export version).
Worth noting is that the Leopard 2 likely incorporates a form of Chobham armor as was fitted to our early M1 Abrams tanks and remains fitted to the British Challengers. The fact that the 9M113 was easily able to penetrate the Leopard 2’s turret armor and savage the interior despite the Abrams-like protective design features should be something we sit up and pay attention to.
NATO’s long time disinterest in active tank protection systems has bit Turkey, I suspect.
..”All that Russia would have to do is deny Turkey the green light for air access over Efrin Syria”....
Erdogan wouldn’t listen even if he did. He’s still continue.