My previous post warned that Russia might send its troops to Syria to operate the Syrian air-defense systems to deter any American/NATO “no-fly zone” over Syria. That has just happened. Indeed, Russia has intervened even more openly and militarily than I predicted.
The first link reports that Russia is sending a “long-range anti-aircraft” system to Syria and the link further indicates that the missile batteries will be operated by Russians. These will, obviously, be Russian military personnel highly skilled in operating these anti-aircraft defenses. Russia reportedly intends to sent four of its high-tech air defense systems to Syria. The article states that “The announcement is intended to show Moscow’s support for al-Assad at all costs (emphasis added).”
That is not all. The second link adds that Russia is sending to Syria “advanced anti-ship missiles” which are supersonic missiles with a 300 kilometer range. This action is, again obviously, intended to keep US, NATO and Israeli warships well away from Syria’s coastlands. I expect these high-tech anti-ship missiles will also be manned by Russian military forces.
We now have Russia openly supporting Assad with Russian high-tech systems and Russian military personnel. This is in addition to Hezbollah (in behalf of Iran) now sending large numbers of its fighters into Syria to repel the Syrian rebels. Do not forget that China is also a staunch ally of Iran and Russia. I would not be surprised if China is also secretly sending some of its high-tech weaponry to Syria to be used against US, NATO and Israeli warplanes and ships if they attack Syria. Previous posts have suggested that China’s many new and modern weapons systems are entirely untested in combat conditions and that China needs a regional war to test their effectiveness. China’s aggressive and bellicose stances in the South China Sea and against Japan have argued that China is seeking to push those regions into a regional war.
Perhaps China can test its weaponry in the Syrian theater without having to openly advertise that its weapons are being positioned there. Indeed, if US, NATO and Israeli warships or warplanes attack Syrian positions, they may find themselves being attacked by salvos of both Russia’s and China’s latest anti-air and anti-ship weapons. I think both these nations would love a chance to fire their new anti-ship missiles against a US aircraft carrier to see if they could penetrate the Aegis defense systems protecting US carriers. The Aegis system was first designed to protect carriers vs. subsonic missiles. Whenever Russia and China get their first chance to fire their new supersonic anti-ship missiles at US carriers, we will find out if both GOP and Democratic administrations have been upgrading carrier defense systems to defeat supersonic missiles over the last two decades. If the US loses a carrier due to the neglect of US presidents to upgrade their defenses, the US people will turn against their leaders very harshly at the polls and impeachments may even be in order.
Russia’s open intervention in Syria to keep Assad in power makes this entire situation much more dangerous. With some US politicians and foreign entities calling for US intervention in Syria, the risk is growing that the USA could be fighting Russian military forces in that region. The last thing the bankrupt USA needs is to engage a modern military force in another war when American military personnel and equipment have been worn out by many years of Asian wars against low-tech opposition forces.
