Deadone | 23 Oct 2014 3:46 p.m. PST |
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John the OFM | 23 Oct 2014 3:57 p.m. PST |
Can't have been all that difficult. The quandary is who do we cheer for? |
tberry7403 | 23 Oct 2014 4:12 p.m. PST |
The real story is that IS managed to get 3 jets far enough off the ground to GET shot down. |
Deadone | 23 Oct 2014 4:47 p.m. PST |
Given plenty of ex-Iraqi, Libyan and Syrian military types have joined various fundamentalist groups, it's not that hard to believe they have technical expertise to get a few old MiGs and L-39s into the air. Bare in mind that in this day and age there's quite a few civilians who own jets ala L-39, Hunter, Strikemaster so why should IS be unable to maintain these types of jets? A MiG-21 or L-39 is quite simple to operate and to maintain. These aren't high tech western jets with lots of electronic components.
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Rebelyell2006 | 23 Oct 2014 5:22 p.m. PST |
The quandary is who do we cheer for? Nobody, unless you want a DH. But it seems that Syria's victory here would be beneficial for the anti-IS crowd, and partially depletes Syria's anti-aircraft capabilities (unless the Russians can ship in more air-to-air missiles) which would be beneficial for Turkey if they want to intervene in the civil war. |
Deadone | 23 Oct 2014 5:28 p.m. PST |
I suspect the Syrians have quite a large stock of A2A missiles. After all they do have several hundred MiGs and Sukhois in service and this is the first time they've used A2A missiles in this conflict. |
Lion in the Stars | 23 Oct 2014 5:36 p.m. PST |
I'm rather appalled that the DAESHbags managed to get those birds off the ground in the first place. I know they're Soviet designs, but I was expecting their engines to be pretty badly used up. |
Deadone | 23 Oct 2014 5:48 p.m. PST |
I know they're Soviet designs, but I was expecting their engines to be pretty badly used up.
The various jihadi groups have captured several air bases. The Syrians had the capability to overhaul aircraft and their engines and had been buying up old ex-Soviet birds from Belarus and elsewhere over the 1990s as a source of supplies. Hence it stands to reasons they had either captured aircraft in reasonable condition or had access to spares. They've actually captured a lot more than just 3 aircraft but most were non-operational and most likely withdrawn from use. Given the Syrians AF can mount 200 sorties in 36 hours after over 2 years of constant battles, it actually implies reasonable capability in terms of maintenance and logistics.
Check out following blog for great coverage on SyAAF operations as well as captured air bases: luftwaffeas.blogspot.com.au IS has also captured at least 1 and possibly more Iraqi Army Aviation Jetranger/Kiowa helicopters. These were apparently loaded onto trucks and sent to Syria along with quite a few M113s, HMMMVs etc. Iraq operated several versions of Jetranger/Kiowa including armed Bell 407 versions. |
Rebelyell2006 | 23 Oct 2014 6:11 p.m. PST |
The various jihadi groups have captured several air bases. Which would give them planes, spare parts, maintenance equipment, defected ground crew, ammunition… |
Mako11 | 23 Oct 2014 11:06 p.m. PST |
What I find more appalling is we had to depend upon the Syrians to take them out. Why weren't they, being obvious targets, taken out by the USN CAP/airstrikes in the first place, before they could get off the ground? We've got round the clock satellite coverage, drones, supposedly at least some other intel, cruise missiles, air-to-ground missiles, cluster bombs, etc. Shouldn't be that difficult a task, if one were serious about the job. |
PVT641 | 24 Oct 2014 5:58 a.m. PST |
What I find more appalling is we had to depend upon the Syrians to take them out. Why weren't they, being obvious targets, taken out by the USN CAP/airstrikes in the first place, before they could get off the ground? We've got round the clock satellite coverage, drones, supposedly at least some other intel, cruise missiles, air-to-ground missiles, cluster bombs, etc. Shouldn't be that difficult a task, if one were serious about the job. +1 |
Bellbottom | 24 Oct 2014 7:55 a.m. PST |
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Legion 4 | 24 Oct 2014 10:25 a.m. PST |
If this is true … it is no real surprise … How good could ISIS pilots be ? Rebelyell2006 23 Oct 2014 5:22 p.m. PST The quandary is who do we cheer for? Nobody, unless you want a DH.
Yep, that's how I got DH'd … |
Lion in the Stars | 24 Oct 2014 11:37 a.m. PST |
@Thomas Hobbes: thanks for the weblink, that's quite a useful site. |
tuscaloosa | 25 Oct 2014 7:15 a.m. PST |
"What I find more appalling is we had to depend upon the Syrians to take them out." Are you kidding? Any time our enemies are busy killing each other, that's a good thing. |
Legion 4 | 25 Oct 2014 8:56 a.m. PST |
Yep, as long as they are killing each other … well we know the rest … |