Nadene Goldfoot
Three heavy, long-range Tu-22M3 bombers have been posted to the Russian Khmeimim air base in western Syria, the Defense Ministry in Moscow has announced. The base’s runways were especially lengthened and broadened to accommodate them. The announcement added that that this “supersonic, variable sweep wing, long-range strategic and maritime strike bomber” will conduct surveillance sweeps across the Middle East and the Gulf at a range of 5,000km (3,100 miles).
RED Areas
The Syrian Arab Republic and Syrian Armed Forces are supported militarily by Iran, Russia, and the Lebanon based Hezbollah.
The ministry said bomber crews would fly a series of training missions over the Mediterranean. The Tupolev Tu-22M3, code-named Backfire by NATO, is a supersonic twin-engine long-range bomber which is capable of carrying nuclear weapons and has a range exceeding 5,000 kilometers (3,100 miles).
Russia also has expanded and modified a naval base in the Syrian port of Tartus, the only such facility that Russia currently has outside the former Soviet Union.
They are nuclear-capable bombers and will be used for training. Training for what? Being they are in Syria, they are to be used on Israel, no doubt. This is a 5-year old style bomber already.
Russia has waged a military campaign in Syria since September 2015, allowing Syrian President Bashar Assad's government to reclaim control over most of the country following a devastating civil war. That's who Syria's Big Brother is: Russia.
About 60 Tu-22M3s are estimated to remain in service with the Russian air force, and some have flown bombing missions to strike militants in Syria from their bases in Russia. Russian media reports said that the Tu-22M3 could be modernized to carry the latest hypersonic missiles.
As part of President Vladimir Putin’s efforts to beef up Russia’s military amid tensions with the West, the Russian navy in recent years has revived the Soviet-era practice of constantly rotating its warships in the Mediterranean.
Since March 2011, fighting in Syria has killed an estimated 465,000 people, injured more than a million and displaced some 12 million people, almost half of the country's pre-war population. It was a civil war that had nothing to do with Israel. The civil unrest in Syria, was eventually triggered by a wider wave of the 2011 Arab Spring protests; it grew out of discontent with the authoritarian Syrian regime and escalated to an armed conflict. Now they have the authoritarian Russian government to contend with that is also escalating into an armed ready, able and willing conflict.
As important as updated avionics are in the age of modern warfare, the centerpiece of the Tu-22M3M upgrade package is the inclusion of up to three new Kh-32 missiles. While classified as anti-ship missiles, the Kh-32 was also developed to also be effective against critical infrastructure targets like bridges and power plants. It is this newfound offensive flexibility that has led defense analyst Dmitry Kornev to describe the Tu-22M3M as “occupying a unique position between strategic and operational-tactical roles,” as opposed to heavier aircraft like the Tu-160 that exist squarely in the heavy strategic bomber camp. The Tu-22M3M, along with its M3 predecessor and MiG-31K, will be among the handful of currently operational Russian aircraft confirmed to be compatible with the nuclear-capable, Mach 10 speed Kh-47 “Kinzhal” missile unveiled at Russian President Vladimir Putin’s 2018 address to the federal assembly.
Iran would love to be able to produce such missiles, and they are trying their utmost to do so, which is why Netanyahu has been adamant about keeping Iran from being able to reach this point.
August 14, 2019: MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia said on Wednesday it had flown two nuclear-capable TU-160 bombers to a far eastern Russian region opposite Alaska as part of a training exercise that state media said showed Moscow’s ability to park nuclear arms on the United States’ doorstep. (It's a variant of the 3 in Syria now).
The answer to Russia's bomber might be the B-2 Spirit Stealth bomber, made in 1989, used in 2003, and again in 2011. The multirole bomber features a generic weapons interface system and can carry 40,000lb of weapons payload. It can fly at an altitude of 50,000ft with a range of more than 6,000 nautical miles (6,900 mi, 11,000 km) unrefueled and 10,000nm with one refueling. It can carry conventional and nuclear weapons, precision-guided munitions, gravity bombs and maritime weapons. It can also carry AGM-129 advanced cruise missile, about 80 joint direct attack munitions (JDAMs) and two Boeing massive ordnance penetrator weapons.
Looks to me like the USA has the best when it comes to bombers.
Every time Israel is hit, like by Syria, Israel hits back. This was happening before the 11 day war in 2020.
Syria has had for a long time, missiles pointing at Israel, and they were using them. Echoing an accusation voiced by Moscow’s Defense Ministry, Yefimov said: “A flagrant incident occurred during the Israeli attack on the night of February 6, when a plane carrying about 172 passengers came under Syrian air defense fire during the response. It is good that they were able to redirect it to the Hmeimim Airbase at the appropriate time. With Israel's precision capability, I don't believe their accusations. It's a cover to use. The truth is just the opposite. On May 14, 2021, At least three rockets fired from Syria toward northern Israel late May 14; no reports of damage, casualties. Additional attacks possible.
“The Israeli raids are, of course, provocative and very dangerous for the situation in Syria,” Yefimov said in an interview with Sputnik Arabic, according to an English translation by Syrian news site Al-Masdar. “The [Israeli] missiles are falling not only in the areas bordering Israel, but also reaching areas deep in Syria, in the eastern part of the country and even in residential areas in Damascus. It is regrettable that civilians become victims of these raids.” This is what I call fake news. Real fake news. It might be what Russia would do, but not Israel.
Resource:
https://www.debka.com/mivzak/russia-deploys-heavy-long-range-tupolev-bombers-at-syrian-base/
https://www.abc3340.com/news/nation-world/russia-deploys-nuclear-capable-bombers-to-syria-for-training
https://www.voanews.com/middle-east/russia-deploys-nuclear-capable-bombers-syria
https://www.timesofisrael.com/russia-deploys-3-nuclear-capable-bombers-to-syria/
https://nationalinterest.org/blog/reboot/video-russian-bomber-answer-americas-killer-aircraft-carriers-164628
https://www.airforce-technology.com/features/featurethe-worlds-best-bomber-aircraft/
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/syrian-missile-israel-nuclear-site/2021/04/22/f278d296-a331-11eb-b314-2e993bd83e31_story.html by By Steve Hendrix and Kareem Fahim
https://www.garda.com/crisis24/news-alerts/478956/israel-at-least-three-rockets-fired-from-syria-toward-israeli-controlled-golan-heights-late-may-14
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israeli_Air_Force#:~:text=It%20has%20taken%20part%20in,nuclear%20reactor%20in%20Operation%20Orchard.
ezekiel 38=39 in the making....
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