VKS strike on terrorists position in Hama province on 9th March. Waited for all the invitees to enter that bunker/building. π
Ground control has not changed since the Syrian forces reached the Euphrates and secured the two water pumping stations. They are now outside of Jirah airbase and reports suggests they are yet to start an offensive to retake the airbase. Its vital for any advance onto Tabqa airbase and further south or east. Its plain all around and will be good hunting for gunships, but no gunships in fight probably coz of no secure airbase for basing those gunships. It is not going to be easy to run over the IS defence at Jirah airbase even though VKS is concentrating their firepower in the area to soften the targets.
8th March
Yet another SyAAF fighter have went down due to technical fault but thankfully the pilot is safe and in a Turkish hospital. I wonder when the pilot and the Syrian soldiers who were captured by the Turkish backed FSA jihadist will be handed back to the Syria. Its Turkish responsibility now.
https://www.almasdarnews.com/article/first-pictures-syrian-pilot-safely-ejected-turkey-crashing-jet-emerge/
Some sources had earlier claimed that Turkish AF shot it down due to crossing over Turkish territory.
So it appears Palmyra has been retaken, hopefully for the last time. Imagery of recently reequipped Syrian troops, a few glimpses of Russian special forces troops, and Mi-28s overhead:
Good to see those Russian supplies. All the supplies have done good in Syria to the utter disappointment of the usual suspects. The T-90s, T-72 and the latest delivery of T-62s, all of them have performed well without major losses and particularly the much talked about ammo explosion due to the “very unsafe and faulty design” of the Russian/Soviet tanks. Those experts must be grinding their teeth seeing almost the exact opposite of what they wished for happening in Syria.
Atleast half a dozen SAA T-90s and possibly a dozen or so…first time seeing this much Syrian T-90s.
https://twitter.com/SyrianMilitary/status/838375490587082752
The No1 tank as rated by the Forecast International and other media shows its only as good as those Russian “tincans” when facing a real opponent and in similar combat situation. The so-called invincible Abrams was already humbled few times earlier. The French and Brits somehow managed to escape this situation coz there are not much buyer of their tanks. But its 101% guaranteed that their fate would not be much different than what we see with those of the Abrams and Leopard-2s.
I just cannot help but laugh at those clueless idiots on Indian forums and their expertise analyzing and parading how superior the Leopard and hence the Arjun MBT, which is based on Leopard layout (a fact so-called experts want to deny!!), is over the Russian “tincans”. This is a reminder as to how even a Arjun will look like when in the same combat situation and facing decently armed opponents as what other tanks faced! And see that ridiculous powerpack compartment, that alone takes up nearly half the hull space and the major contributor to the hull length and overall weight of the tank.
One of the first recommendation made by an Indian army Brigadier from the armored corps on re-engineering the Arjun MBT back in the mid-90s to bring its weight and size down was to replace those huge power-pack. One of the reason it never materialized was due to the “scientific/engineering” community that runs the research department found it unpleasant and against their taste to accept a design solution which came from army/an ordinary army brigadier who was just another “graduate” and not of the “elite” science/engineering stream which they belonged to. This brigadier was also ridiculed on various Indian forums by clueless idiots who also happen to be from the same “elite” engineering streams, but devoid of basic commonsense, which is a common problem plaguing the Indian establishments, including R&d.
Btw, here is a good article on how the old Russian war machines are performing with new Syrian gadgets to defeat the anti-tank missiles used by the terrorists. I also need to mention here that if Russia had acted atleast 6 months earlier, Idlib (the current world sanctuary for all forms of Jihadist) wouldn’t have lost.
http://within-syria.blogspot.in/2017/02/sarab-1-2-aps.html
In 2012 militants in Syria started using Guided Anti Tank missiles such as 9M113 Konkurs and 9K115-2 Metis-M that were stolen from Syrian Arab Army’s points. The limited number of such ATGMs did not cause a significant problem for the Syrian Arab Armed Forces back then, as the Syrian Forces were able to overcome the limited casualties dealt by these ATGMs.
That situation gradually shifted when militants were supplied by their backers in the United States, Turkey, and Gulf States with more ATGMs such as more 9M113 Konkurs, HJ-8 (Red Arrow), and BGM-71 TOW; the delivery of these ATGMs by large numbers was significant enough to cause a major shift on the battlefield, and perhaps the most significant shift was when the Syrian Arab Army withdrew from the city of Idlib in 2015 after militants used these ATGMs to destroy ~40 SAA heavy armor.
The first BGM-71 TOW captured by SAA was in 2014 in a joint operation with Hezbollah which included three missiles and one launcher. Where the Syrian Intelligence Agencies were able to provide number of different variants of the missile using many methods; the simplest was to buy the missiles from militants where the Syrian Military intelligence were able to buy 18 missiles and three launchers from one FSA formation in the South. Where a SyAAF Intelligence asset among Ahrar Al Sham was able to steal two missiles and two launchers in Idlib from Squr Al Ghab group, and another SyAAF Intelligence asset who was in fact a commander of a group in the South βFSA Tribal forces- provided another two missiles and one launcher. All that was around the same time the Russian Air Forces was deployed in Syria in late 2015.
The first battlefield testing took place in Khanaser district in the Southern Countryside of Aleppo where the system had it’s first successes against ISIS-Launched 9M113 Konkurs ATGMs. Then the tank was dispatched to Latakia’s Countryside for more battlefield tests, and there it had it encountered its first BGM-71 TOW where it successfully jammed a BGM-71 TOW. Based on the results from these two battlefield trials the system was adopted by the Syrian Ministry of Defense.
As soon as the first rugged jamming device was adopted, the SSRC initiated its large-scale
production and started working on its upgrades simultaneously.
The effects of the Mirage-1 (Sarab-1) system were especially seen on the fronts of the Southwestern Countryside of Aleppo, where SAA armor losses witnessed a significant decrease, and militants began using BGM-71 TOW ATGMs on other non-armored targets such as buildings and barricades in an attempt to score hits after failing hit SAA armor.
The Mirage-2 (Sarab-2) System utilized new emitters and fitted new more powerful batteries as an energy source which increased its operation time to 10 hours before requiring a recharge, and was fitted in a more durable external container which completely surrounded the system for more protection; and as far as battle effectiveness, the system had a major success in the operations to liberate Aleppo in 2016 where militants were firing BGM-71 TOW ATGMs almost exclusively against infantry and fortifications where the use of ATGMs against SAA armor was very limited.
The Russia airshow over Palmyra after its second liberation.
The ‘Nimr’ Tigerβ @Souria4Syrians 3 March
To this day the Syrian Army mans the longest front line and can still launch multiple major offensives simultaneously. Remarkable!
The above comment is very apt and also shows how stretched the Syrian forces are. All those quarantine pockets inside are tying down 10s of thousands of valuable manpower. Add to that inadequate close air supports like the gunships for the offensive units.
On top of that, now the stupid deal (wish I’m proven wrong!) for the Syrian forces to man the border to separate the Turkish backed Jihadist and the Kurdish forces as if Syrian army has excess manpower sitting idle.
After so many months under US/SDF occupation, its the Ebil Russians and Syrians who need to come to provide the Manbij residents with whatever humanitarian aid they can.
And the ebil Russians with humanitarian aid in Southern Syria where the military and people is fighting the multinationally supported Jihadist.
Regarding the Admiral Kuznetsov group and its air campaign over Syria. If not for that arresting wire problems, they could have had few dozen more sorties.
http://www.aif.ru/society/army/aviagruppa_admirala_kuznecova_sovershila_420_vyletov_v_sirii?utm_source=aifrelated&utm_medium=click&utm_campaign=aifrelated
The air group “Admiral Kuznetsov” made of 420 missions in Syria
03/02/2017
During the sorties, destroyed over thousands of targets for terroristsMoscow, 3 Feb – AIF-Moscow.
Aviation group of the cruiser “Admiral Kuznetsov” during the operation in Syria has made 420 sorties, including 117 night, said the commander of Northern fleet Nikolay Evmenov.Evmenov spoke at the solemn meeting in honor of the return of carrier-based aircraft “Admiral Kuznetsov” to the airfield in the Murmansk region.
“Great equipment, weapons, professional skill of our pilots allowed to destroy more than a thousand objects of international terrorism,” said Evmenov.
Aircraft carrier group of the Northern fleet, where, in addition to “Admiral Kuznetsov”, was part of a heavy missile cruiser “Peter the Great” and a large anti-submarine ship “Severomorsk” participated in the operation in Syria since 8 November last year.
It is expected that the ships will return to base in Severomorsk on 9 February. On the eve of the Admiral Kuznetsov entered the Barents sea.
After Iraqi AF strikes inside Syria last week in coordination with the Syrian Govt, US carried out its 2nd series of airstrikes on the hardened aircraft shelters at Palmyra airbase. I believe this has more to do with destroying the infrastructure at Syrian airbases rather than fighting the terrorists. Last week, they destroyed the HAS at Tabqa airbase.
Situation as of 4th March.
Syrian forces slowly creeping east aided by VKS and SyAAF to the Lake Assad and looks like they are bypassing Deir Hafir for now. Still no real gunships in the fight, all that is available is a single Gazelle with limited firepower. Would have been good to see Ka-52/Vikhir combo having some actions here.
If the Syrian forces creep along the lake Assad and towards the Tabqa dam, I feel there is a possibility to see the new units of Syrian marines trained by the Russians (& the Russian SOFs) in action to secure the dam. That, IF those cowboys don’t bomb the dam itself. Last week they “missed” striking the dam by over a 100 meters.
Rus MoD situational map of 3rd March.
SDF and Kurds have been piggy backing the SAA assault and making their land grabs without any fight as can been seen in the ground control.
Syrian forces are continuing their advance to the east after it became clear Turkish backed FSA Jihadi’s would like to take Al Bab, and not surprisingly the IS Jihadi’s surrendered it without much fight.
Yesterday’s map on SAA advance. Still no Russian gunship in the fight. I dont know when the guys will ever realize that with a small group of helo gunships it is nearly impossible to service all sectors and its time to have an increase.
Progress upto noon today…
Maybe by next weekend they reach the Al Assad lake and Jirah helicopter airbase area. Its better to avoid a fight at Deir Hafir (unless unavoidable) and continue east towards the lake and expand the area of control in the process.
Jirah airbase is important as it will allow a forward operating base for any near/future offensive on Tabqa and south towards Deir Ez Zor.
Zvezda new high-speed marine diesel engine M150 Pulsar.
http://flotprom.ru/2015/ΠΠ²ΠΌΡ60/
Engine M150 – four-stroke turbocharged.
Number of cylinders – 12;
The working volume of 37 liters.
Rated power – 800 – 1830 kW, depending on the modification.
For comparison, the V84/V92/S2F used on the T-72/90 MBTs is a 38liter, V-12, developing 1,130hp and weighing just around 1,150 Kg at the max, due to its (almost) all aluminium construction.
^ Zvezda M150 Pulsar @ Congress of the International Committee for internal-combustion engines (CIMAC)
Interview with Chairman of the Board of Directors of JSC “Zvezda”, the General Director of Scientific-production concern.
http://kuleshovoleg.livejournal.com/512564.html
Oleg Kuleshov’s photo report on Pr.23130 Academician Pashin
http://kuleshovoleg.ru/?page_id=1122
Its better to open all Russian language websites in Yandex browser and have it do the good job of translation.
https://browser.yandex.com/desktop/main/
From the looks of it, since May 2016 when it was launched, the “work progress” of last 9 months indicates there is some problem with funding. They built and launched the hull really fast, but now it looks hardly been worked upon.
There was another tanker showcased, Pr.23131, which had a keel laying ceremony @ Zaliv and then it disappeared completely.
I’m not sure if the idiots at the top have had a change of mind and is now only looking at the new larger Universal marine tanker which was displayed in September 2016 and was hoping to built it in Germany (& good commission for those involved, I guess).
I’d posted it here
http://forum.keypublishing.com/showthread.php?122230-Russian-Navy-Thread-2&p=2339633#post2339633
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