Monday, April 10, 2017

U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis: US Missiles 'Took Out 20% Of The Syrian Air Force'


BBC: Syria war: US missiles 'took out 20% of aircraft'

A US air strike in response to a suspected chemical attack damaged or destroyed 20% of Syria's operational aircraft, the US has said.

Defence Secretary James Mattis said Syria would be "ill-advised ever again to use chemical weapons".

Syria has denied a chemical attack on the rebel-held town of Khan Sheikhoun last week that left 89 people dead.

G7 nations are meeting in Italy to discuss policy and how to persuade Russia to abandon its Syrian ally.

The US fired 59 cruise missiles at Syria's Shayrat airbase last Thursday, following the suspected chemical attack a day before.

Read more ....

Update: US strike wiped out fifth of Assad air force, Mattis says -- AFP

WNU Editor: Defense Secretary Jim Mattis has also issued this warning .... Mattis gives ominous warning: Syria would be 'ill-advised' to use chemical weapons again (Business Insider).

19 comments:

Anonymous said...

The news I've been watching and reading is saying no planes were destroyed because advanced warning was given of the strike. If it wasn't given there would be a toxic cloud from the chemical weapons and a nearby village would have been devastated.

Unknown said...

A former intel weenie said 6 jets were destroyed.

They said that the were down for maintenance or awaiting parts.

They were worst of the worst in terms of age and wear and tear.

I do not know that it hurt much.

But if 6 is 20% then the Syrians have 24 jets left.

Anonymous said...

Aizino: I congratulate you on your math :p

Anon: not necessarily. .chemicals like this are often stored as binaries to avoid just that. That means they first need to be mixed together to become active (and the components are usually not stored together), and mixing is done just before a mission to reduce risk. Also, due to the blast heat of a missile strike the gas could burn off before going anywhere.

B.Poster said...

20% of the air force, only 60 cruise missiles fired of which 59 worked properly!??! That is an extraordinary claim being made by general Mattis. Not only is it extraordinary such a claim is completely in violation of common sense. While extraordinary things that violate common sense can and do happen, they require extraordinary proof. Until such proof can be provided, they should be dismissed as complete and utter bunk.

By this attack they've already demonstrated they are very likely stark raving mad men. As such, the claims of a madman can probably be dismissed. Either that or these are very, very evil people who do NOT have American interests at heart. They could just be very, very dumb people who are easily manipulated.

It really makes no sense for Mr. Mattis to even warn the Assad regime about the use of chemical weapons we don't even know they used. It may have been the rebels. As I've stated here and elsewhere, when trying to solve a crime, we look for motive and opportunity. The "rebels" had plenty of both whereas Assad had neither. As such, barring extraordinary evidence Assad and the Syrian military would need to be dismissed as a suspect. Before buying into the extraordinary we should be presented with extraordinary evidence. So far we have not been.

Anon, (comment # 3)

You are probably right. These things would be very difficult and dangerous to handle. As such, storing them as binaries that would need to be mixed together would be experiential common sense. It has been known for a very long time that Syria is awash in these things. As such, it would not be terribly difficult for the rebels to get their hands on these. One theory that had been proposed was that the Syrian plane hit a chemical weapons depot. If the chemicals are stored separately, this would tend to eliminate this theory, however, the rebels may not be experienced with the proper storage of these things or more likely they may have put them in a place all ready to go ensuring they'd be hit by the Syrian plane.

Of course the CIA is managed and staffed by a combination of incompetent boobs, political hacks, and both incompetent boobs and political hacks. As such, it comes as no surprise they would fail to ask the most basic questions that a first year detective would ask. As for the Trump Administration, they would have been prudent to ask such questions. Given the past failures of US intelligence it would seem unwise to rely on anything they present as a primary source.

fazman said...

The syrians themselves have confirmed 20 aircraft which makes 20% about right.
You can clearly see the holes punched in the roofs of the hangers and charred fusalage within.
Airpower aust has tracked misfires and makfunctions of tomahawkes since 91 and it ranges from a average of 2% to 5% worst case, based on averages 3 missed as worst case, actually pretty impressive and cist effective.
Kims in his 3rd diaper and china understood the pyrotechnic display.

Unknown said...

Anon,

I said I did not know that much about the Syrian Air force.

If I had a subscription to Jane's that would be something.

Wiki might have something, but that would have to be checked carefully.

I am sure that the Syrian airforce has had attrition due to use and SAMs, but the press does not keep as good of track of that as of casualties during Bush's time in office and GITMO.

Unknown said...

For while LWJ kept good track of drone strikes.

fazman said...

The syrians themselves have confirmed 20 aircraft which makes 20% about right.
You can clearly see the holes punched in the roofs of the hangers and charred fusalage within.
Airpower aust has tracked misfires and makfunctions of tomahawkes since 91 and it ranges from a average of 2% to 5% worst case, based on averages 3 missed as worst case, actually pretty impressive and cist effective.
Kims in his 3rd diaper and china understood the pyrotechnic display.

Jac said...

Above this account of planes, my question is: what would be the US action if the chemical bombing was done by Russian airplane? Well, looks like a detail, but if Russian will do that again in defiance of US ... we shall have to retain our breath.

Jay Farquharson said...

https://www.google.ca/amp/www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/syria-attack-us-trump-air-strikes-bombs-avoided-sarin-stockpile-airbase-chemical-weapons-idlib-a7672126.html%3Famp

"Syria attack: US 'deliberately avoided bombing sarin stockpile at Assad airbase' during Trump air strikes"

"Donald Trump’s national security adviser, Herbert “HR” McMaster, told a press conference the attack aimed to reduce the airfield’s ability to “continue mass murder attacks against Syrian civilians”.

“There were measures put in place to avoid hitting what we believe is a storage of sarin gas, so that that would not be ignited and cause a hazard to civilians or anyone else,” he said."


Jay Farquharson said...

http://www.globalfirepower.com/country-military-strength-detail.asp?country_id=syria

As of 2016, Global Firepower calculates that the SAAF had 175 operational fighters and interceptors, ( Mig -21, Mig -25, Mig-29). The Mig-29's have been adapted as strike strike aircraft, attempts to use the Mig-21's and 25's in that role failed.

225 Strike aircraft ( jets), Su-22's, Su-24's,

In addition, L29 Albatross trainer aircraft have been adapted to the strike role.

If so, and assuming none of the "claimed" were out of service or being cannibalized for parts, a 20 aircraft claim would be far less than 10%.

Jay Farquharson said...

BTW, the Orxy Blog and twitter feed uses social media, (Syrian, SAAF, SMOD, FSA, ISIS, YPG, etc) to monitor and publish info in the "closed" States, including Syria and the NORK's.

http://spioenkop.blogspot.ca/?m=1



War News Updates Editor said...

Jay. Thank you for the Orxy Blog link.

fazman said...

Not all those planes would be combat capable, damaged, stripped for parts etc. Realistically would you say 150 based on assad resources being depleted then 12 to 15% is still a big number for any airforce.
Repeat it on a couple more airfields and it ceases to exist as a coherent fighting force.

fazman said...

Not all those planes would be combat capable, damaged, stripped for parts etc. Realistically would you say 150 based on assad resources being depleted then 12 to 15% is still a big number for any airforce.
Repeat it on a couple more airfields and it ceases to exist as a coherent fighting force.

fazman said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Jay Farquharson said...

Global Firepower has included in their calculations losses and non- operational aircraft, that's why the SAAF is down from 766 aircraft to 461 in 2016,

In the fall of 2016, the RUSAF and Russian Contractors took the lead over much of the aircraft repair and maintenence programs, and parts supplies no longer became an issue.

Unknown said...

The U.S. is not closed.

Too many people just do not care. They would rather follow the Khardassians. This is true enough that it has become a meme.



Also part of the problem lies in the MSM journalists / reporters.

I regard many journalists as uneducated or miseducated.

They may have attended a university, but in my book that means squat. These reporters should have something more than a J-school degree.

They should be trained like librarians. they should have a masters in the subject they curate in addition to the librarian degree.


At the very least they should be like a science writer for science mag. Many of those people are gems. They translate the jargon into something the average man can understand. However to do that they have a bachelors or master in a STEM subject.

I am really not impressed by the big names in journalism, who made 7 million dollars a year in the hey day of TV journalism. Their education was obviously abysmal.

Anonymous said...

Complete bullshit. Only 9 aircraft were destroyed.