First response? Duh!!!Use of advanced missiles and state-of-the-art jets suggests Moscow is sending a message to more than just Syrian rebels.
Justin Bronk | 07 Oct 2015 19:12 GMT
Russia began military intervention against the Syrian opposition and ISIL late last month [AP]
Russia's firing of 26 long-range SS-N-30A Kalibr cruise missiles from four surface ships in the Caspian Sea against eleven targets in Syria today marks a significant escalation in President Putin's military intervention in the Middle East.
Talk to Al Jazeera - Has Russia saved the Assad regime from collapse?
The missiles flew almost 1,500km on a flight path that took them over Iran and Iraq before impacting in Syria. The strikes were ostensibly part of intensifying Russian attacks in support of a new offensive in central Syria by forces loyal to Bashar al-Assad, which also included air strikes by attack jets and helicopter gunships based at Latakia.
However, the choice of long-range cruise missiles reveals a great deal about Mr Putin's priorities. Cruise missiles are a near-ubiquitous tool in the Western military arsenal. The Tomahawk Land Attack Missile (TLAM) has been in service within NATO since 1983 and has similar range and terrain-following capabilities to the Russian Kalibr.
Cruise missiles are generally used in lieu of having to risk conventional attack aircraft to hit targets which are well defended, static, and who's GPS location is known in advance. They are highly effective in state-on-state conflicts for destroying critical command centres, radar installations, ammunition dumps and other key targets as part of a wider air campaign.
However, cruise missiles do malfunction and crash on occasion, even later model, US-made Tomahawks, have caused incidents this way. If a Russian missile had malfunctioned and crashed in Iran or Iraq, the diplomatic ramifications could have been significant.
Read more:
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2015/10/analysis-russia-flexing-missiles-syria-151007184604543.htmlSeriously? I've heard more astute political analysis on the playground.
Of course they are bloody well showing off some of their capability! It's the military equivalent of Putin taking his shirt off. You know the Russian military has muscles, so they're showing a little of just how ripped they are.
