ISIS Unmanned Aerial Vehicle fail as seen from above.

ISIS is known to operate a wide variety of UAVs. Surveillance, Kamikaze, grenade-dropping drones and quadcopters are often dispatched to perform both reconnaissance and bombing missions.

Their ability to drop small bombs with pinpoint accuracy has raised concerns that Daesh fighters could attack Iraqi and coalition troops as well as civilians, not only from the ground, but also from the air.

For this reason, increasingly, U.S. and allied aircraft flying over Syria and Iraq in support of Operation Inherent Resolve are tasked with hunting COTS (Commercial Off The Shelf) and Daesh-modified drones, their launch sites or production facilities.

However, sometimes kinetic air strikes are not even needed to destroy these small drones.

The following video was taken on Mar. 30, 2017, near Tabqah, Syria.

It shows a Daesh militant attempting to launch a small UAV from a roof. The scene, seemigly filmed from a Reaper or Predator drone, ends with the UAV crash landing in front of the building.

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Tu-22 Bombers Fly From Russia with Syrian-Based Fighter Escort to Hit ISIS Terrorist Targets in Syria (with dumb bombs).

Russian Air Force Tupolev Tu-22M3 (NATO reporting name “Backfire C”) heavy bombers flying directly from Mozdok, Russia, pounded ISIS targets near Deir ez-Zor, Syria earlier today, Jan. 24.

The precision strategic long-range strike crossed Iranian and Iraqi airspace and, according to the Russian MoD, the targets (terrorist group’s command centers, weapon stockpiles and armored vehicles) were completely destroyed.

The Russian Defense Ministry reported that the six bombers were supported by a fighter escort (four Su-30SMs) launched from the Russian base at Khmeimim (Hmeimim Air Base) in western Syria.

The primary bomber aircraft on the strike are the latest version of the TU-22 “Backfire” series bombers. Production of the aircraft ended in 1993 but updates to targeting and avionics have likely continued.

Based on an examination of the BDA (Bomb Damage Assessment) and targeting strike video, it would appear that the weapons employed were, as usual, unguided “dumb” bombs released under precision sighting from the Russian bombers. The weapons appear to be one of the Russian FAB series unguided bombs, either the FAB-250 (500 lb) bombs or the larger FAB-500 (1,000 lb) bombs.

Unguided bombs employed using precision strike technology from the bombers themselves have the advantage of not requiring time-consuming targeting data often required by laser designated, GPS-guided or optically guided air-delivered weapons. As a result the Russian forces can prosecute targets more quickly since fewer targeting assets in the region are required.

No intelligence was released indicating how targeting was achieved for the airstrikes.

The Tu-22M3 is internally equipped with the Leninets PNA-D precision ground attack radar for targeting and the SMKRITS RORSAT Targeting Datalink Receiver (Molniya satcom) for remote target designation. The aircraft is also equipped with an OPB-15 remote optical bombsight. The strike video may have been shot using the aircraft’s onboard AFA-15 strike camera.

The strikes appeared to have been conducted from medium to high altitude based on the videos.

In 2010, the Russian Air Force operated 93 of the Tu-22 bombers in several versions while Russian Naval Aviation flew 58 Tu-22’s according to public sources.

Although Russia did not officially name the units involved it is most likely the raids were flown by aircraft from the 52nd Heavy Bomber Aviation Regiment at Shaykovka and/or the 840th Heavy Bomber Regiment at Soltsy-2 in Novgorod Oblast, Russia.

This follows a similar raid on strategic targets in Syria flown earlier this week on Saturday.

Image credit: RT and ausairpower.net

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Less than three weeks after losing a MiG-29, it looks like the Russian Navy has lost another aircraft during Admiral Kuznetsov operations: a Su-33 Flanker.

Military sources close to The Aviationist report that a Russian Navy Su-33 Flanker carrier-based multirole aircraft has crashed during flight operations from Admiral Kuznetsov on Saturday, Dec. 3.

According to the report, the combat plane crashed at its second attempt to land on the aircraft carrier in good weather conditions (visibility +10 kilometers, Sea State 4, wind at 12 knots): it seems that it missed the wires and failed to go around* falling short of the bow of the warship.

The pilot successfully ejected and was picked up by a Russian Navy search and rescue helicopter.

Considered that on Nov. 14 a MiG-29K crashed while recovering to the aircraft carrier, if confirmed this would be the second loss for the air wing embarked on Admiral Kuznetsov in less than three weeks and a significant blow for the Russian Naval Aviation during its combat deployment off Syria.

*Update: the Russian MoD has confirmed the incident. According to an official release the arresting wire snapped and failed to stop the aircraft.

Image credit: Russian MoD

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Salva

Pretty embarrassing incident for the Russian aircraft carrier at its debut in the air war in Syria. Fortunately, the pilot ejected safely according to the first reports.

As reported by Combat Aircraft a Russian Navy Mig-29KUBR embarked aboard Adm. Kuznetsov aircraft carrier has crashed on Nov. 13.

The aircraft is one of the four naval Fulcrums operated by the 100th Independent Shipborne Fighter Aviation Regiment.

According to our sources, the incident occurred around 14.30Z and involved a two-seater Fulcrum in a formation of three Mig-29s operating from the carrier in the eastern Mediterranean Sea off Syria: whilst one of the remaining aircraft recovered aboard the Kuznetsov the third one diverted for unknown reasons to Syria.

Footage allegedly showing Mig-29s in the skies over Aleppo had happered earlier on the same day.

First russian mig 29 fly over Syria from Russian aircraft pic.twitter.com/pkSqBFKvp9

— Yusha Yuseef (@MIG29_) November 13, 2016

The pilot of the doomed aircraft ejected safely and was rescued by a helicopter while the Russian Navy radioed all the nearby vessels to remain 5NM away from the crash point.

Needless to say the incident unfolded while several NATO aircraft and warships closely monitored the operations aboard Russia’s only carrier.

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Salva

Salva

Russia’s MOD has just announced that Kuznetsov aircraft carrier group prepares to strike Daesh targets in the province of Aleppo. Here’s from where.

The only Russian Navy aircraft carrier has eventually arrived in the eastern Mediterranean Sea from where, along with the rest of its battle group, it prepares to launch air strikes on Syria.

Interestingly, the first raids are being announced beforehand.

Indeed, according to the State-run Sputnik News, Russia’s MoD told Gazeta.ru that the Adm. Kuznetsov group is going to attack “terrorists in the province of Aleppo in the next 24 hours. The attack, which will likely engage Kalibr cruise missiles, will target militants outside of Aleppo, and not the residential areas.”

The naval group, includes among the others the Pyotr Veliky missile cruiser, the Severomorsk and Kulakov anti-submarine destroyers, and the Adm. Grigorovich Kalibr-armed frigate (believed the be the one that will be involved in the cruise missile launch). Reportedly, three submarines armed with cruise missiles (two Akula-class submarines and a diesel-powered Kilo-class sub) have joined the strike group in the deployment to the eastern Mediterranean Sea.

Noteworthy, a  NOTAM has been issued (and publicly available) covering the Nov. 10 to 22 timeframe, with details about the area of a “Russian Navy Exercise” allegedly featuring “training flights and rocket test firings” (not actual firing activity….)

A1323/16 – RUSSIAN NAVY EXERCISE (TRAINING FLIGHTS
ROCKET TEST FIRINGS) WILL TAKE PLACE IN AREA :
342940N0343345E
343000N0350700E
343327N0351850E
343345N0353548E
354500N0352540E
354500N0345600E
350540N0344715E. SFC – FL300, 10-15 17-22 0500-2100, 10 NOV 05:00 2016 UNTIL
22 NOV 21:00 2016. CREATED: 03 NOV 12:46 2016

Based on the NOTAM, the airspace where the Russian Navy is probably going to operate can be found in the top image (processed using SkyVector.com).

As a consequence of NOTAM A1323/16 another one (A1324/16) was issued to notify airmen of the closure of the affected airways in the area east of Cyprus, off Syria.

A1324/16 – DUE TO RUSSIAN NAVY EXERCISE AS REFERED IN
NOTAM LCNC A1323/16, THE FOLLOWING AIRWAYS WILL BE
CLOSED:
1.W/UW 17 (BALMA-NIKAS)
2.R/UR 78, M/UM978 (ALSUS-NIKAS)
3. B/UB15 L/UL620 (BALMA-ALSUS)
4. W/UW10, L/UL619 (VESAR-NIKAS)
5. R655 (BALMA-KOBER)
6. UR655 (BALMA- LCA)

SFC – FL300. 10-15 17-22 0500-2100, 10 NOV 05:00 2016 UNTIL 22 NOV 21:00 2016.
CREATED: 03 NOV 13:10 2016

Top image credit: screenshot of map edited on SkyVector.com

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