Russia launched its air campaign in Syria on September 30, making 120 combat sorties that hit 110 targets in just over a week, according to the Defense Ministry. Among the objects destroyed are:
- 71 armored vehicles
- 30 other vehicles
- 19 command facilities
- 2 communication centers
- 23 depots with fuel and ammunition
- 6 plants used to make IEDs, including car bombs
- several artillery pieces
- several training camps
‘Terrorists on the run’
The apparent goal of this phase of the operation is to undermine the militants’ capability to keep the pressure on government forces through constant raids and terrorist attacks, and to give the Syrian Army a breathing space to regroup and launch an offensive.
The targets of the Russian airstrikes were spread across Syria, from ISIS stronghold Raqqa in the northeast to the vicinity of the ancient city of Palmyra west of the Damascus-controlled western part of the country to the outskirts of Damascus in the south.
According to the Russian military, the bombing campaign has hurt the morale of the militant troops, sending thousands on the run.
Top Guns
Russia’s fleet of jets is varied as well. The core of it consists of well-tried workhorses like the Su-24 frontline bomber and the armored Su-25 ground-support fighter jet. Both planes were designed decades ago, although the Air Force brought the latest upgraded versions for the Syrian campaign.
Newer planes are also there, like the Su-34, which entered service in Russia last year. The Syrian theater offers Russian engineers a test-field to try the plane, which can hit targets from an altitude of 5,000 feet, far from the range of anti-aircraft weapons in the possession of the militants.
The Air Force is employing a number of bombs in the missions, from sophisticated and expensive laser-guided Kh-25Ls and steerable KAB-250s to the bunker-busting BETAB-500s free-falling and affordable FAB-500s. The variety means Russia can strike with pinpoint precision where necessary and bombard with devastating force where no collateral damage would be done. RT