Russian President Vladimir Putin is preparing for war as he pulls out the big guns... literally.
If observers were worried about World War III being started over Syria before Turkey shot down two Russian fighter jets, and the U.S. backed Syrian rebels then used American manufactured and supplied TOW anti-tank missiles to blow up a Russian rescue helicopter, then the subsequent events should have everyone on the edge of their seats as Russia rolls out 'The Monster.'
(Russia rolls out 'The Monster")
The S-400 missiles, which Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered sent to the Hemeimeem air base in Syria’s coastal province of Latakia, just 50 kilometers (30 miles) away from the border with Turkey, are capable of striking targets within a 400-kilometer (250-mile) range with deadly precision.
The military also moved the navy missile cruiser Moskva closer to the shore to help protect Russian warplanes with its long-range Fort air defense system.
“It will be ready to destroy any aerial target posing a potential danger to our aircraft,” Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said at a meeting with military officials. He also announced the severance of all military ties with Turkey and said that from now on, Russian bombers will always be escorted by fighters on combat missions over Syria.
Earlier the other day, Russia made a very explicit demonstration of the deployment of at least two S-400 batteries at Syria's Khmeimim airbase, with the Russian Ministry of Defense promptly publicizing the arrival with the following clip. These missiles are no joke!
Putin is also going after Turkey economically as he signed a decree of harsh punitive sanctions against Turkey, including "charter flights from Russia to Turkey would be banned, that tour firms would be told not to sell any holidays there, and that unspecified Turkish imports would be outlawed, and Turkish firms and nationals have their economic activities halted or curbed," according to Reuters.
Putin's spokesman suggested the Russian leader was ready for a long standoff however, saying he was "fully mobilized" to tackle what he regarded as an unprecedented threat from Turkey.
Via WSJ: "The Kremlin said the measures would remain in place indefinitely until the situation changes."
Other reports show that Russia has also delivered TOW resistant tanks to the Syrian Army’s 4th Mechanized Division in order to negate the effectiveness of the American-made TOW anti-tank missiles the Syrian rebels have been using against the Syrian leadership and Army.
Russia has developed an active protection system used on its new generation of battle tank, the T-14. It uses a millimeter-wavelength radar to detect, track and intercept incoming anti-tank munitions. The Russians claim the technology confuses the guidance systems of TOW and other anti-tank missiles.
Furthermore sources claim Russia is planning to escalate the Syria Offensive with ground troops and increasing airstrikes, athough spokesperson in Kremlin denied the charge. According to a Breitbar report "Arab media recently reported that the situation on the ground in Syria has already escalated, with Russian infantry forces being dispatched and the expansion of Russia’s aerial campaign."
MEMRI documented that a third article in Al-Akhbar reported:
“December will be hot on the ground in Syria. All signs [indicate] that the coming months will see an unprecedented escalation.” The article further asserted that, following the Russian plane incident in Egypt and the Paris attacks, the international atmosphere will promote Russia’s escalation in Syria “without incurring a torrent of global condemnations.”
The bombing of the Turkmen villages near the Turkish border is considered to be a red line of Turkey. Al Akhbar assessed that since the Turkmen conquest is necessary for gaining full control of the Syrian coast, Russia had decided to ignore Turkey’s red lines and two weeks ago began a massive offensive together with the Syrian army in Jabal Turkman.
“Today we can safely say that the Syria war is headed for a new stage, characterized mainly by the Syrian army and its allies escalating their joint military attack to unprecedented levels,” the newspaper reported. “What has happened in the Latakia area in the past two days [i.e. the Syrian/Russian bombing of the Turkmens near the Turkish border] is nothing but a small preamble.”
Then we have the Express UK report that claims Turkey is threatening to shoot down more planes, which is guaranteed to escalate the situation as Putin has already declared the downing of Russia's two initials jets an "act of war."
RUSSIA'S MILITARY TECHNICAL ADVANCEMENTS WORRY THE U.S.
With former Ronald Reagan Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Economic Policy Dr. Paul Craig Roberts warning that according to his sources the Russians have a new technology system that allows them to shut down the communications systems of any other country's military, and that it has already been tested sucessfully, we are reminded that in December 2014, The Daily Beast reported that the Pentagon was worried that Russia can now outshoot U.S. stealth jets.
The problem is that many potential adversaries, such as the Chinese and the Russians, have developed advanced digital radio frequency memory (DRFM) jammers. These jammers, which effectively memorize an incoming radar signal and repeat it back to the sender, seriously hamper the performance of friendly radars.
Worse, these new jammers essentially blind the small radars found onboard air-to-air missiles like the Raytheon AIM-120 AMRAAM, which is the primary long-range weapon for all U.S. and most allied fighter planes.
“I get incredibly concerned about the capability gap decreasing [between the US and other nations]. That technology gap continues to get smaller and smaller, and for us that should be very disconcerting,” Robinson said this week, while addressing the Air Force Association conference.
In November 2015 the Politico reported that a highly respected retired Army colonel, Douglas Macgregor, said that the state of the U.S. military today is "obsolete," and in a head-to-head confrontation pitting the equivalent of a U.S. armored division against a likely Russian adversary, the U.S. division would be defeated.
"Defeated isn’t the right word, the right word is annihilated."
Via Politico: "Viewed by many of his colleagues as one of the most innovative Army officers of his generation, Macgregor, a West Point graduate with a Ph.D. in international relations (“he can be pretty gruff,” a fellow West Point graduate says, “but he’s brilliant”), led the 2nd Cav’s “Cougar Squadron” in the best-known battle of Operation Desert Storm in February 1991. In 23 minutes, Macgregor’s force destroyed an entire Iraqi Armored Brigade (including nearly 70 Iraqi armored vehicles), while suffering a single American casualty. Speaking at a military “lessons learned” conference one year later, Air Force General Jack Welsh described the Battle of 73 Easting (named for a map coordinate) as “a stunning, overwhelming victory."
BOTTOM LINE
Observing the military and political actions being taken right now by Russia, there is no doubt that Putin is preparing for war, not just against ISIS but perhaps Turkey and any NATO ally, including the U.S., that stands with them.
As evidenced by the aforementioned statements by Pentagon insiders, Air Force Generals and former Army Colonels, despite the U.S. military being hailed as the most powerful military in the world, there is serious concern from those in a position to know, that in a direct conflict with Russia.... America would lose.
