Some insight into the reality of this "war" slightly different from what our obamamaniamedia is programmed to report. The hardware in the region is formidable to say the very least. A full contingent of Sukhoi aircraft which provide a full-combat spectrum of capabilities. The Su-33/34/37 aircraft get much of the publicity because there is a lot of "stock" footage and The Soviet is more than happy to showcase those birds. Formidable in the context that they are all multirole fighters in the same class as the F-15 and Typhoon. Although the moniker multirole usually signifies can do everything good but nothing great this mix provides specialized capabilities where and when needed with a minimal logistics footprint as they share much commonality of parts. The workhorse in the fight is the Su-25 and she earned her legendary status in Afghanistan along with the venerable and deadly Mi-24. The Su-25 is in the same class as the A-10 and in-fact is considered to be a rough copy of the aircraft that lost the competition against it which was the Northrop A-9. Both the Su-25 and the mighty Mi-24 are currently serving with "distinction" in the Ukraine/Crimea as I write. In fact many of the units engaged there are providing the seed Pilot and Maintainers for the bases in Syria and soon Iraq - that's right - Iraq. The one airplane that is getting little coverage is the Su-24 and is arguably the most capable fighter-bomber in the region. It is in the class of the F-111 if any of you remember it's distinction above all was that The Soviet respected its capabilities so much he demanded that the F-111 be included in all SALT treaties. The Su-24 is a two-man, twin-engine, swing-wing, all weather, night, low-level, nuclear capable super-sonic machine that is on-par or better than anything the west has to offer (...in that class). Our "silver bullet" remains the F-22 and is the ONLY platform capable of countering any of these aircraft with any degree of survivability. They (the Russians) are flying with transponders OFF and are using as many "Passive" signals as possible playing the game as the "good guys". Trouble is they are playing the world for the fools they are as their primary targets are indeed "rebel" forces - but not primarily ISIL. They are securing the region for their purposes and don't give a hoot about ISIL unless the Iranian ground controllers call in a position for a specific reason.
Remember our POS stated that "he would have more flexibility once re-elected" - well here it is folks. The No-Fly Zone he imposed on us (NATO) in July was to restrict US and allow The Soviet to do just exactly what he is doing now. And for you Naval types remember there is a TYPHOON class submarine now parked off the coast of Syrian and a Chinese aircraft carrier operating J-15 fighters every day along side The Soviet. Gaining knowledge and combat experience and most of all INTEROPERABILITY with "external" forces. Remember they typically operate in their own little bubble of control so this is tremendous experience for their command structure and its future doctrine. The big An-124 and An-22's are flying daily loads of supplies un-checked by any western force. This is an extremely volatile situation and we are doing nothing to stop or impede them - I dare say our non-interference is intentional and accomplishing the goal of helping promote the effort. I know airplanes and the airplanes in the region are not there to "plink" towel-headed clowns in Toyota trucks - they are there to FIGHT and WIN whoever challenges them.
