Some really good low level action of Mi-24s

^ This is truly low level, the guys making video probably got more than what they expected. 😎

^ Mi-24 operating in the countryside of Homs

^ SAA soliders who having been holding out against the Islamic/Jihadi terrorists inside the Kweres airbase, which has been under siege for the last 2 years. Expect a flurry of blah blah from the likes of Turkey once a full scale operation start to break the siege and push the terrorists out of the area.

Everyone makes mistakes, I am 100% sure those Syrian MiG-23 and Su-24 pilots weren’t specifically ordered to cross borders. At M0,9, a sustained 5G turn takes 7 km diameter. Distance between FSA controlled Az Zawf and Turkish border is 2 km. One mistake, one wrong maneuver and you are in deep sh!t.

Or the Turkish F-4 that made a mistake and got shot down.

Like I said Turkish/Israeli really would not WANT to shoot Russian aircraft and would be upset about doing it (it would have undesirable political/economical implications). But if Russians do not give them means to identify their aircraft, they can (and will) mistakenly do it.

If Russians miscalculate as you do and such incident do happen, political fallout would be Turkish/Israeli apologizing first, and accuse Russians of not giving relevant data, hiding their identity and violating airspace. Their apology will go in the lines of “How we are supposed to know”.

I spoke only about Russian a/c inside Syrian airspace.

Lol are you 7 years old? A Russian Su-24 cross Turkish border, Turkey honestly makes a mistake and shoots an aircraft down and apologize. Then Russia goes mad and openly attacks Turkish soil (a NATO country) for revenge? Really?

Lets play it in your way then; No reality, only shooting game…

Assuming with only 4 truly Air-to-Air capable aircraft, Russians manage to bypass two dozen F-16s conducting CAP and GAI and bomb Turkish soil, then what happens? If you look at the map, Latakia directly borders Hatay. Thanks to ongoing clashes, bulk of 106th Artillery Regiment sits ~2,9 km away from the border with more than 90 self propelled artillery and around 60 multi-rocket launchers. Latakia airbase Russians based is just 53 km away from their position, also in range of SRBMs of 2 additional rocket battallions of 7th corps, lifting total SRBM count that can target Latakia airport to around 120. This combined firepower can shell/bomb entire Russian presence in Syria to extinction in what? 20 minutes? And in the aftermath, Turkey can easily play “self-defense” card to UN, and “mutual defense” card to NATO, and get away with such atrocity.

First learn to read properly and the context and stop posting like a 5 year old, so, for now, keep your play with you.

I am pretty curious about the exact action Russians are planning. Surely mere bombing of a few camps and trucks will not win them this war.

Striking and cutting off the Turkish supply lines and the Turkish support for terrorists inside Syria would have a remarkable change on the ground.

Russian Aviation Hits Over 50 ISIL Facilities in Syria With 60 Flights
03.10.2015

Russian aviation has conducted over 60 flights hitting more than 50 infrastructure facilities of the Islamic State in Syria, Andrei Kartapolov, the head of the Main Operations Directorate of the Russian General Staff said Saturday.

The Russian Air Force has undermined the material base of ISIL and has significantly reduced the militants’ combat potential over the three days of the military operation, Lt. Gen. Andrei Kartapolov told reporters.

Militants are leaving their positions in Syria, some 600 foreign mercenaries are trying to get to Europe following airstrikes conducted by the Russian Air and Space Forces.

Russia announced in advance the beginning of its airstrikes against the Islamic State positions in Syria, with the US defense attache in Iraq being among the first to have been informed on Wednesday.

Kartapolov noted that the Russian airstrikes first of all target “command and control centers, ammunition and explosives warehouses, communication centers, mini-factories for the production of weapons of suicide bombings and militant training camps.”

Su-34 strike on underground command post of ISIS in the RAQQA region

Russian Air Force hits 50 ISIS targets in Syria over 3 days, ‘significantly’ damaging militants
3 Oct, 2015 09:00

“The airstrikes were being conducted night and day from the Khmeimim airbase and throughout the whole of Syria. In three days we managed to undermine the terrorists’ material-technical base and significantly reduce their combat potential,” Lieutenant General Andrey Kartapolov, head of the Main Operation Directorate of the General Staff of Russia’s armed forces, told reporters on Saturday.

He added that according to Russian intelligence the militants are fleeing the area that was in their control.

“Over the past 24 hours, Sukhoi Su-34 and Su-24M fighter jets have performed 20 sorties and hit nine Islamic State installations,” Igor Konashenkov, Russia’s Defense Ministry spokesman, reported.

Konashenkov added that yesterday evening Russian aircraft went on six sorties, inflicting strikes on three terrorist installations.

Commenting on the video filmed by a Russian UAV monitoring the assault near Raqqa, Konashenkov noted, “a powerful explosion inside the bunker indicates it was also used for storing a large quantity of munitions.

“As you can see, a direct hit on the installation resulted in the detonation of explosives and multiple fires. It was completely demolished,” the spokesman said.

Konashenkov noted the crosshair visible on the drone video footage is not a target, but merely a focus point of the UAV’s camera “maintaining control over an airstrike.”

The Russian Air Force has also eliminated a workshop in Idlib province, where terrorists have been mounting large-caliber machine-guns and other heavy armaments on pickup trucks.

Assault aircraft from at Khmeimim airbase have also inflicted airstrikes against terrorist forces near Jisr al-Shughur in Idlib province, destroying vehicle storage depots used for organizing terror attacks.

Drones stationed at Khmeimim airbase are maintaining “round-the-clock monitoring of the situation in Islamic State’s operation areas,” Konashenkov said.

“All disclosed targets are promptly engaged, regardless of the weather or light conditions,” said the Defense Ministry’s spokesman.

Most important question would be, “is Russia planning to inform Turkey and Israel for each operation they conduct?” Or at the very least, “do Russian aircraft fly with IFF active?”

Russia will be conducting ops which best suits its need inside Syrian airspace to fight the terrorist, so is there even a need for that?

This is very important as both Israel and Turkey have demonstrated both will and ability to shoot down Syrian aircraft that violates their borders. If Russians operate same type of aircraft as Syrians (like Su-24 they are using now, or MiG-25RBT or MiG-29), and not ID themselves, they carry a great risk of getting shot. And looking at the history of Israel, and current aggresive stance of Turkey, i really don’t think they will hesitate shooting down a Su-24 merely because it MAY have the possibility of belonging to Russians.

Turkey and Israel have been supporting terrorists from the North and South and they would want to protect their assets fighting against Syrian Govt. But we’ll see if both will be insane to attack Russian assets and stupid enough expecting nothing in return. Mistakes can happen from the so-called trigger happy Israeli/Turkish side, but then, mistakes can happen from the Russian side also.

If yes, then no one, not even US, would dare shooting down a Russian plane knowingly, even if they dislike their politics. Then my choice would be MiG-29SMT. In fact I would chose it above Su-30SM. Why? MiG-29SMT’s maintenence will be cheaper and simpler with existing Syrian infrastructure (which already operate MiG-29), they are multirole fighters with PGM capability, they have sufficent range to cover Syrian soil from Latakia, and they are cheap to operate. For the same costs, Russia can operate almost twice number of MiG-29s in to show their flag in the air, which would lead to better air cover than few Su-35/MiG-31 could provide.

Plus, in my subjective opinion, MiG-29 is better designed to handle harsh conditions than any other aircraft currently flying. There are dozens of abandoned airbases throughout Syria, which could be used as forward bases as Russians advance. Personally, I wouldn’t land a 25+ ton Su-30/34 on a already damaged airfield, and other aircraft like Su-24 would not survive operating from unmaintained, half-wrecked air bases covered with dust and debris.

However, if the answer is no, then the answer to your question is more Su-30SMs; They are multirole, so it would not be regarded as targeting western aircraft only, and they can be easily identified as Russian aircraft and not get shot down by some overzealous Turkish F-16s or Isreali Patriots.

We are talking about fighters and Yes MiG-29s are a good preference as they are smaller and lighter and they have at least upgraded 28 x MiG-29SMTs, thanks to the cancelled deal by Algeria. Moreover the SMTs are multi-role as well. Su-30SM are fewer in numbers but hope they can augment its strength upto 12-16 units.
Getting shot at Russian a/c will likely see couple of Kh-31P on their way inside Israeli or Turkish borders.

As expected, Russian Su-30M are giving air cover to Su-24/25/34 during their strikes. Considering the western opposition to Russia’s anti-terrorists ops in Syria, Russia probably will be increasing their fighter strengths in the coming days or months. In that case which fighters – MiG-29s, MiG-31s, Su-27/30?

In the video, you can actually see the main explosion in the lower left corner. What’s hitting the hill is debris from it.

Yes thats exactly what I felt and wrote in post #353

But seeing the main explosion I dont know if there was a slight deviation from the ground zero? One exploded right on that hill side.