Quote:
Originally Posted by Wendigo
The gloves are off
Syria air strikes: US and allies attack 'chemical weapons sites
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-43762251
"At a Pentagon briefing shortly after Mr Trump's announcement, Gen Joseph Dunford listed three targets that had been struck:
A scientific research facility in Damascus, allegedly connected to the production of chemical and biological weapons
A chemical weapons storage facility west of Homs
A chemical weapons equipment storage site and an important command post, also near Homs"
I hope our intelligence on identifying chemical weapons has improved since the Iraq war  |
First of all the disclaimer. This is just an assessment according to my private current state of 'knowledge' of the developing situation in Syria.
No weapon systems of the Russian forces stationed in Syria were used during the illegal attack. All S-400 systems were inactive. The job was done by Syrian air defense forces alone. The following systems were used to defend Syrian airspace.
Pantsir-S1/2
Buk-M2E
S-125/S-1252M
SA-8
SA-2
ZSU-23-4
AA guns
All in all, it was a resounding success. 90 out of 97 missiles were either neutralized by electronic countermeasures or shot down by Syrian air defense. 7 missiles hit their intended target without causing too much damage, the remainder consisted of identified decoys. In addition, several Israeli UAVs were shot down. The Russian air force confined itself to blockading techniques against attacking enemy air force, which promptly withdrew after coughing up their fancy load.
According to first reports, there were 4 fatalities and several injured on the Syrian side. Of course, these numbers can change over the next few days or weeks. President Assad arrived punctually to work today and started business as usual.
The whole stunt was a coordinated, one time 230 Millionen US nothing burger deluxe. Well, it could be worse. Just imagine they would have spend that money on education or medical care.