Have they fired these yet?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kh-59

I disagree. Mainly because USA has been bombing there while indirectly trying to help destroy Assad, and not try to save him from ISIS.

There are 32 Russian bombers delivered very close to the front lines in less than a week. We don’t know how much more are coming, but 32 is already a lot considering everything. This means they will be seriously supported on the ground with artillery and more tanks buildup to follow. Some T-90s are already in place.

Secondly, No one is going to invade this territory as long as Russians troops and advanced weapons are there. So how exactly is Assad going to get overrun now. He is not. His butt is safe and he is dancing for the first time in years!!

Yes USA and its coalition has been bombing with little success (mainly preventing worse than it is now from happening).
A lot has to do with those planes having to fly all the way there and find little or no targets to strike. I mean results are pretty obvious. 12 months of bombing and ISIS has has grown and has not lost any significant territory?

Russians, if they decide to go into offensive can actually retake land with Assad’s army and level ISIS to the ground with coordinated bombardment. This bombardment will be brutal in my opinion, with potentially lots of collateral damage. They don’t have this problem where they have to worry who they are helping by bombing, so they will have a lot easier time having ISIS on the run.

There is no reason to believe that Russians are not already bringing major artillery, tanks, and multiple missile launchers to assure enough force is there.

Easy come. Easy go. Jihadists fired Grads at that base. Sooner or later that airport is going to be razed to the ground.

Bit of a counting problem there, I think.

This is no exaggeration. Hundreds of thousands of jihadists from all over the place. There are billions of Muslims. Of these, millions are jihadists. Even in Afghanistan USSR killed near 100,000 jihadists yet they didn’t make a dent in jihadist numbers. For every jihadist killed, 10 more jihadists take his place.

I quote from

http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/50394

Question: Mr President, the United States, France and Australia are actively making airstrikes at ISIS, unsanctioned by the UN Security Council. Has anybody asked us to join in these airstrikes? Especially considering the reports that Russian aircraft are already in Syria.

Vladimir Putin: We did speak about this today: combat aircraft from Australia, France and the United States are dealing missile and bomb attacks not only at ISIS formations on the territory of Iraq, which is technically understandable from the point of view of international law because there was a request from the Iraqi Government.

Regarding Syrian territory, this is illegal; this is also something we spoke about today. There is neither a Security Council resolution on the issue, nor a corresponding request from the official authorities in Damascus. We have discussed this. As for our involvement, we are considering it. We do not rule out anything, but if we do act, this will be in strict compliance with the norms of international law.

Germany and Japan are clear loser with foreign troops occupying and dysfunctional economic and social systems. Almost complete dependence on foreign resources and that include labor working in foreign factories for them. Russia shed the unwanted part of business.

So Russia don’t need American approval to bomb jihadists?

Russia is loser of cold war. As a loser, like Germany and Japan, Russia has no right to bomb. Russia needs permission from the US to bomb. The US will never approve of that.

With the exception of Turkey, democracy just doesn’t work in the Middle East.

Turkey is a democracy? :very_drunk:

I’m guessing:

primary targets are Nusra, Islamic Front, Jaish al Fatah, Army of Conquest

secondary targets are FSA, Division 30, Southern Front

tertiary targets are ISIS