Saudi Arabia just replenished Syrian rebels with one of the most effective weapons against the Assad

[bdslph]

A Saudi Arabian official has reportedly disclosed that the Sunni kingdom sent Syrian rebels a new batch of one of the most effective weapons for battling against the Assad regime this week.

BBC correspondent Frank Gardner tweeted that a Saudi official confirmed the delivery of 500 TOW antitank missiles to the Free Syrian Army (FSA).

The FSA is currently being squeezed from all directions by the Syrian military, Russian airstrikes, and competition from jihadist fighters, including ISIS.

The delivery of the TOW missiles — which have also been provided by the CIA — will increase the capabilities of the FSA against Syrian armor, and it would enable them to more effectively battle against Assad's recent military advances.

"Five hundred TOWs is not an inconsequential number," Jeffrey White, a defense fellow at The Washington Institute, told Business Insider.

"I don't think it will be a revolutionary event, but it will increase the attrition of regime armor, which will make it harder for the regime to conduct offensive operations."

TOW missiles, as Popular Mechanics notes, are guided missiles that could thoroughly damage tanks, armored carriers, and other vehicles that the Assad regime might send into the field. And, unlike other projectiles used against armored targets, such as RPGs, TOW missiles can be used from a considerable distance.

On Thursday, the FSA and other affiliated rebel units carried out a "tank massacre" after the Syrian government launched a large offensive backed by Russian airstrikes to retake northern portions of Hama province.

According to the Syrian Observatory of Human Rights, the rebel forces armed "with US-made TOW missiles … [and] other guided rockets ... caused the destruction … of over 15 armored cars, vehicles, and tanks."

REUTERS

White said that the rolling hills and plains in Hama and Idlib are ideally suited to the use of TOWs. Assad's armor has little protection or cover in the region and are ideal targets for the guided missiles.

The presence of these weapons has continued to cause extreme damage among Assad's forces as his offensive has continued into Friday.

The Syrian offensive in Hama is aimed at dislodging rebels from the region while creating a larger buffer between rebel forces and Syria's Alawite heartland in Latakia. The offensive has been backed by heavy Russian bombings, but it has so far failed to dislodge the rebels.

"There is an attempt by the regime to advance, but the situation is under our control," a rebel fighter involved in the counteroffensive against Assad's forces told Reuters.

The reported injection of an additional 500 TOW missiles from Saudi Arabia will be a big boost to the rebels.

The missiles, however, do nothing to counter Russia's continued airstrikes against rebel positions. And Russia is going after the TOW recipients.

In the past, Saudi Arabia and other US allies have suggested funneling man-portable air-defense systems (MANPADs) to the Syrian rebels to help shoot down Syrian, and now Russian, fighter jets. MANPADs are relatively easy-to-use shoulder-launched missiles that could reach enemy aircraft.

However, the US has consistently opposed this idea, as the weapons could conceivably end up in the hands of al Qaeda or its affiliates and be used to down a civilian airliner (or a US military aircraft). Saudi Arabia may also be reluctant to provide these weapons due to the risk of directly antagonizing Moscow and the US.

"If the TOWs are primarily used against Assad armor, that's not the same as being used against Russian personnel," White said.

"If the Saudis were to supply the rebels with surface-to-air missiles, that would be different."

Institute of Study of War


Syria's ground offensive against rebels started on Wednesday in its first close coordination with Russia. The offensive was aimed at four key regions across the provinces of Idlib, which is completely under rebel control, and the contested province of Hama.

The rebel's cache of TOWs, and the resulting "tank massacres," may also have the unintended consequence of forcing the Assad regime to change the nature of their offense.

"If this continues," White warned, "expect to see the [Syrian] regime move away from using armor and start using higher firepower and air operations as a solution."

now Saudi make the FSA a more likely target

 

[bdslph]

Saudi Arabia increasing weapon supplies to Syrian rebels following Russian airstrikes – report

Saudi Arabia has stepped up its weapon supplies to three different rebel groups in Syria following Russian airstrikes, a government official told the BBC. It comes after Moscow launched its Air Force anti-terror operation at the request of Assad’s government.
Rebel groups fighting the Syrian Army will receive an increase in modern, high-powered weaponry, including guided anti-tank weapons, a "well-placed" Saudi official told the BBC on condition of anonymity.

He said the recipients include Jaish al-Fatah (Army of Conquest), the Free Syrian Army (FSA), and the Southern Front. The official stressed that Islamic State (formerly ISIS/ISIL) and the al-Nusra Front would not be receiving any weapons.

The official did not rule out the possibility of supplying surface-to-air missiles to the rebels, which many in the West fear would fall into the hands of ISIS militants and be used to shoot down warplanes of the US-led coalition or civilian aircraft.

Meanwhile, a separate Gulf Arab official has expressed fear that Russia's military intervention in Syria will prompt a new jihad, or holy war.

The official told journalists that Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov was warned by Arab diplomats during last week's UN General Assembly that Moscow's actions in Syria were creating “Frankenstein's monster,” which will draw in jihadists aiming to “liberate” Syria of Russians, Iranians, and Hezbollah fighters from Lebanon.

However, the official admitted that neither the West nor Gulf Arab states have a strategy for resolving the bloody conflict, which has been taking place for more than four years and has led to the deaths of over 250,000 people.

He went on to stress the need for stronger US leadership, adding that the worst scenario would be for the West to accept a compromise which allows Assad to remain in power. The official added that Sunni Arabs in the region will not accept such a deal.

The statements come after Russia launched its airstrike campaign in Syria on September 30, targeting military equipment, communication centers, vehicles, and arms and fuel depots belonging to ISIS terrorists. In just over a week, Russia made 120 combat sorties that hit 110 targets, the Defense Ministry said on Wednesday.

The head of the Main Operation Directorate of the General Staff of Russia's Armed Forces, Andrey Kartapolov, said on Thursday that troops are using precision-guided munitions in the airstrikes, which have a “maximum deviation from the target of less than five meters.”

"All the targets are being thoroughly studied, using the data from space and radio-electronic intelligence, drone footages, the information received from radio intercepts. We are also using data from Syrian, Iranian and Iraqi intelligence, including undercover sources," Kartapolov said, adding that each bombing is carried out after a review of all available information and a “computer simulation of the future attack.”

Since the military campaign was launched, mainstream media has “launched a powerful anti-Russian campaign,” Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Tuesday. She added that the ministry is “open to contacts of military experts” and is ready to look into any potential concerns.

Meanwhile, the White House has called the Russian airstrikes "indiscriminate military operations against the Syrian opposition,” adding that the campaign will prolong Syria's conflict. Moscow offered on Tuesday to resume talks with Washington to avoid any misunderstandings concerning its airstrike operations, as well as ways to avoid conflicts between US and Russian warplanes over Syria.

Saudi Arabia increasing weapon supplies to Syrian rebels following Russian airstrikes – report — RT News

 

[Ceylal]

'Tank massacre': Rebels hit Syrian forces hard after initial offensive - Business Insider

Back to counting tanks again......Your demented brood are being sent to meet their maker in drove...It's time of reckoning !

If port city of Latakia falls, then even Russia won't be able to do anything since Syria will be completely cut off from the rest of the world.

Even if the port of Latakia falls, the Caspian sea will always, be open to dispose of ISIS and its supporters..

 

[Godman]

A Saudi Arabian official has reportedly disclosed that the Sunni kingdom sent Syrian rebels a new batch of one of the most effective weapons for battling against the Assad regime this week.

BBC correspondent Frank Gardner tweeted that a Saudi official confirmed the delivery of 500 TOW antitank missiles to the Free Syrian Army (FSA).

The FSA is currently being squeezed from all directions by the Syrian military, Russian airstrikes, and competition from jihadist fighters, including ISIS.

The delivery of the TOW missiles — which have also been provided by the CIA — will increase the capabilities of the FSA against Syrian armor, and it would enable them to more effectively battle against Assad's recent military advances.

"Five hundred TOWs is not an inconsequential number," Jeffrey White, a defense fellow at The Washington Institute, told Business Insider.

"I don't think it will be a revolutionary event, but it will increase the attrition of regime armor, which will make it harder for the regime to conduct offensive operations."

TOW missiles, as Popular Mechanics notes, are guided missiles that could thoroughly damage tanks, armored carriers, and other vehicles that the Assad regime might send into the field. And, unlike other projectiles used against armored targets, such as RPGs, TOW missiles can be used from a considerable distance.

On Thursday, the FSA and other affiliated rebel units carried out a "tank massacre" after the Syrian government launched a large offensive backed by Russian airstrikes to retake northern portions of Hama province.

According to the Syrian Observatory of Human Rights, the rebel forces armed "with US-made TOW missiles … [and] other guided rockets ... caused the destruction … of over 15 armored cars, vehicles, and tanks."

REUTERS

White said that the rolling hills and plains in Hama and Idlib are ideally suited to the use of TOWs. Assad's armor has little protection or cover in the region and are ideal targets for the guided missiles.

The presence of these weapons has continued to cause extreme damage among Assad's forces as his offensive has continued into Friday.

The Syrian offensive in Hama is aimed at dislodging rebels from the region while creating a larger buffer between rebel forces and Syria's Alawite heartland in Latakia. The offensive has been backed by heavy Russian bombings, but it has so far failed to dislodge the rebels.

"There is an attempt by the regime to advance, but the situation is under our control," a rebel fighter involved in the counteroffensive against Assad's forces told Reuters.

The reported injection of an additional 500 TOW missiles from Saudi Arabia will be a big boost to the rebels.

The missiles, however, do nothing to counter Russia's continued airstrikes against rebel positions. And Russia is going after the TOW recipients.

In the past, Saudi Arabia and other US allies have suggested funneling man-portable air-defense systems (MANPADs) to the Syrian rebels to help shoot down Syrian, and now Russian, fighter jets. MANPADs are relatively easy-to-use shoulder-launched missiles that could reach enemy aircraft.

However, the US has consistently opposed this idea, as the weapons could conceivably end up in the hands of al Qaeda or its affiliates and be used to down a civilian airliner (or a US military aircraft). Saudi Arabia may also be reluctant to provide these weapons due to the risk of directly antagonizing Moscow and the US.

"If the TOWs are primarily used against Assad armor, that's not the same as being used against Russian personnel," White said.

"If the Saudis were to supply the rebels with surface-to-air missiles, that would be different."

Institute of Study of War


Syria's ground offensive against rebels started on Wednesday in its first close coordination with Russia. The offensive was aimed at four key regions across the provinces of Idlib, which is completely under rebel control, and the contested province of Hama.

The rebel's cache of TOWs, and the resulting "tank massacres," may also have the unintended consequence of forcing the Assad regime to change the nature of their offense.

"If this continues," White warned, "expect to see the [Syrian] regime move away from using armor and start using higher firepower and air operations as a solution."

I am pretty sure than Russia, ,Iranian and Syrian military intelligence is searching for those weapons to launch airstrikes on where it is stored.

There are enough ways for Russia to gather intelligence

Taking Names, Kicking ***: Spy Planes, Ships Help Russian Forces Smash ISIL

But where, from the Russian side at least, is that intel coming from? Russian journalists on the ground in Latakia recently shed light on at least a part of the process, reporting that at least some of the intel is gathered using drones, which scout ISIL positions and hardware prior to aircraft taking off. However, there has to be more to it than that.

According to TNI, "while Moscow has not identified its [mobile] reconnaissance platforms, pictures of a Russian Il-20M Coot flying over the battlefield have popped up on social media."

"Based on the Ilyushin Il-18 turboprop airliner, these four-engined planes are rough equivalents to the US Air Force's family of RC-135 aerial spies," TNI explains.

reported that the Baltic Fleet reconnaissance ship Vasily Tatishchev, a Vishnya-class ship designed for signal intelligence and communications intelligence-gathering via a bristling array of onboard sensors, is sailing to the conflict zone. The ship transmits its data to shore via satellite uplink antennas located on its two large radomes, and was reported to have already passed through Denmark's Baltic Sea strait over the weekend.

 

[Ceylal]

Saudi Arabia increasing weapon supplies to Syrian rebels following Russian airstrikes – report

Saudi Arabia has stepped up its weapon supplies to three different rebel groups in Syria following Russian airstrikes, a government official told the BBC. It comes after Moscow launched its Air Force anti-terror operation at the request of Assad’s government.
Rebel groups fighting the Syrian Army will receive an increase in modern, high-powered weaponry, including guided anti-tank weapons, a "well-placed" Saudi official told the BBC on condition of anonymity.

He said the recipients include Jaish al-Fatah (Army of Conquest), the Free Syrian Army (FSA), and the Southern Front. The official stressed that Islamic State (formerly ISIS/ISIL) and the al-Nusra Front would not be receiving any weapons.

The official did not rule out the possibility of supplying surface-to-air missiles to the rebels, which many in the West fear would fall into the hands of ISIS militants and be used to shoot down warplanes of the US-led coalition or civilian aircraft.

Meanwhile, a separate Gulf Arab official has expressed fear that Russia's military intervention in Syria will prompt a new jihad, or holy war.

The official told journalists that Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov was warned by Arab diplomats during last week's UN General Assembly that Moscow's actions in Syria were creating “Frankenstein's monster,” which will draw in jihadists aiming to “liberate” Syria of Russians, Iranians, and Hezbollah fighters from Lebanon.

However, the official admitted that neither the West nor Gulf Arab states have a strategy for resolving the bloody conflict, which has been taking place for more than four years and has led to the deaths of over 250,000 people.

He went on to stress the need for stronger US leadership, adding that the worst scenario would be for the West to accept a compromise which allows Assad to remain in power. The official added that Sunni Arabs in the region will not accept such a deal.

The statements come after Russia launched its airstrike campaign in Syria on September 30, targeting military equipment, communication centers, vehicles, and arms and fuel depots belonging to ISIS terrorists. In just over a week, Russia made 120 combat sorties that hit 110 targets, the Defense Ministry said on Wednesday.

The head of the Main Operation Directorate of the General Staff of Russia's Armed Forces, Andrey Kartapolov, said on Thursday that troops are using precision-guided munitions in the airstrikes, which have a “maximum deviation from the target of less than five meters.”

"All the targets are being thoroughly studied, using the data from space and radio-electronic intelligence, drone footages, the information received from radio intercepts. We are also using data from Syrian, Iranian and Iraqi intelligence, including undercover sources," Kartapolov said, adding that each bombing is carried out after a review of all available information and a “computer simulation of the future attack.”

Since the military campaign was launched, mainstream media has “launched a powerful anti-Russian campaign,” Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Tuesday. She added that the ministry is “open to contacts of military experts” and is ready to look into any potential concerns.

Meanwhile, the White House has called the Russian airstrikes "indiscriminate military operations against the Syrian opposition,” adding that the campaign will prolong Syria's conflict. Moscow offered on Tuesday to resume talks with Washington to avoid any misunderstandings concerning its airstrike operations, as well as ways to avoid conflicts between US and Russian warplanes over Syria.

Saudi Arabia increasing weapon supplies to Syrian rebels following Russian airstrikes – report — RT News

They can send everything that they have in her store, it is not going help much their proxies..

 

[500]

Arena active protection shoots down TOWs all day long

Arena (countermeasure) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

There is no a SINGLE deployed Arena system even in Russia itself.

 

[SURYA-1]

I hope Russia returns in kind by sending a freight full of Anti Tanks and MANPADs to Yemen .

 

[Tsilihin]

A few OTR-21 missile will be fine.

 

[ultron]

Any arms convoy WILL be intercepted and destroyed by Alliance air power. Any arms depot WILL be bombed by Alliance air power. Not a single TOW will make it to insurgents in Homs, Hama, Idlib, Latakia, Aleppo, Damascus provinces. The Alliance controls the entire air space over Syria.

 

[AUSTERLITZ]

If port city of Latakia falls, then even Russia won't be able to do anything since Syria will be completely cut off from the rest of the world.

Latakia is protected by 2000 russian marines,APCs,spetsnaz,latest T-90 tanks and full regiment of russian bombers in airbase.Anyone rebels getting close will not face syrians,but russians.And TOWs are useless against T-90s.These are scoring successes against 70s decade T-72s and t-55s of syrian army.They don't even have old kontakt-5 ERA or welded turret.

 

[Spectre]

Latakia is protected by 2000 russian marines,APCs,spetsnaz,latest T-90 tanks and full regiment of russian bombers in airbase.Anyone rebels getting close will not face syrians,but russians.And TOWs are useless against T-90s.These are scoring successes against 70s decade T-72s and t-55s of syrian army.They don't even have old kontakt-5 ERA or welded turret.

If US/Turkey/Arabs chip in with material resources/latest weapons (but no airstrikes and men) - can Russia hold?

 

[AUSTERLITZ]

If US/Turkey/Arabs chip in with material resources/latest weapons (but no airstrikes and men) - can Russia hold?

Turkey and arabs already providing material resources.USA won't provide heavy weapons because they know those will end up in hands of ISIS and al-nusra,al-qaeda -basically islamists who are worse than even assad for USA if they replace him.And without full US backing gulf arabs alone can't stop russian bear.

 

[Spectre]

Turkey and arabs already providing material resources.USA won't provide heavy weapons because they know those will end up in hands of ISIS and al-nusra,al-qaeda -basically islamists who are worse than even assad for USA if they replace him.And without full US backing gulf arabs alone can't stop russian bear.

So in effect this was already over the moment Russians called US bluff and entered Syria. Now only mopping up the remaining rebels/ISIL is left?

Sad end for the Arab Spring.

 

[shaheenmissile]

Not really. If that happens, which is unlikely, Assad family moves to Sochi then Russia nuke every Syrian city, town, village. After 10 years of de radiation, Assad family moves back to Damascus.

Dick chayny is your cousin i guess?

 

[ultron]

If US/Turkey/Arabs chip in with material resources/latest weapons (but no airstrikes and men) - can Russia hold?

Yes. Air strikes don't cost anything.