Illegal military formations on the territory of Syria have created a whole state with a mass of fortified and disguised objects - from operational command posts deep underground to warehouses and workshops for the manufacture of explosives. The militants adopted many of the tactics of fortification from the Palestinians, famous for their ability to fight a modern and well-trained army.
At first, frontline aviation in the SU-24M, Su-34, Su-25SM and fighters was enough. Moreover, support was provided by army rotary-winged war birds. However, with the development of the offensive of ground forces, it became increasingly difficult for bombers and attack aircraft to reach the central and eastern regions of Syria. With the maximum combat load, the vehicles were forced to land at the "jump airfields" Shayrat and Al-Tayar after work. The attack of the American pack on one of these airfields was aimed, among other things, at disabling an object so important for the Aerospace Forces. All this together created difficulties in the combat use of tactical aviation in the skies of Syria: the time for completing tasks increased and the efficiency decreased. The limited power of front-line aviation also affected the attack on especially fortified enemy structures, which are distinguished by increased survivability.
Therefore, it was quite logical to put into operation the long-range aviation of the Russian Aerospace Forces in the Syrian theater of operations. Before Syria, Russian strategic bombers were repeatedly used in a combat situation, but these were relatively small Tu-160 and Tu-22M. Now, six supersonic Tu-160Ms, five well-deserved old Tu-95Ms and twelve "medium" Tu-22M3 bombers have been added to the combat group. Such giants cannot fly in the sky alone, and for operational support they were assigned several Su-27SM fighters and front-line "bombers" Su-34. All equipment was based not in Syria, but on the territory of Russia in North Ossetia. The very long runway of the Mozdok airfield allowed both the giants of the Tu-95 and the modest fighters to take off without any problems.
Russian Long-Range Aviation has been striking militants since the end of 2015. The first to be baptized by fire in the Arab Republic of Tu-22M3. The targets for them were fortifications in the eastern provinces of Raqqa and Deir ez-Zor, which could hardly be reached by front-line bombers. Each plane carried 12 copies of OFAB-250-270 on the internal sling, which flew on the heads of the militants mainly during daylight hours and from high altitudes. The Tu-22M3 can take more bombs on board, but it was this configuration that was optimal considering the flight range. In some cases, the Tu-22M3 carried much larger ammunition with a caliber of 3000 kilograms FAB-3000M54. Giant bombs with a caliber of 6000 and 9000 kilograms were not used.
The target was reached using the small-sized inertial system MIS-45, as well as data from the long-range navigation radio system A711 "Silicon". The bombing speed was about 900 km / h and in conditions of excellent visibility: the bombs were sent to targets through the optical aiming channel. The flight of aircraft over the territories of other states has not been announced, but it can be assumed that the bombers passed over Azerbaijan and Iraq, about which, of course, there was a corresponding agreement. And, of course, our sworn friends from the NATO bloc were notified of the upcoming strike and did not react so nervously to the bomb-laden Russian vehicles. US State Department spokesman Mark Toner said in this regard: “Russia warned us about this through the air operations center in Qatar, operating at Al Udeid Air Force Base, the Coalition knows about Russia's intention to use cruise missiles … Russia struck at the positions of the terrorists and so that there would be no casualties among the civilian population …"
A much more effective strategy would be for the United States, according to which they would share information about the location of terrorists with Russia, rather than act in isolation, simultaneously attacking government forces. But such steps did not follow, but indisputable respect before the Long-Range Aviation of Russia was evident - no one loudly shouted about their objections. Nevertheless, the leadership decided to escort all bombers with fighters in order to avoid incidents, for which all parties will have to pay dearly.
It is worth noting that the cover does not go side by side with heavy vehicles, as we are used to seeing on television footage, but at a distance, in order to be able to observe and maneuver the attack.
Tu-95MS and Tu-160M entered the battle on October 17, 2015 and struck at point targets, in contrast to their younger counterparts, who worked on dispersed targets. Turboprop Tu-95MS carried Kh-555 cruise missiles, which are a deep modernization of the Kh-55 back in the 1980s. The missiles were equipped, in addition to the classical inertial navigation system, with satellite navigation equipment, which reduced the probable circular deviation to 20 meters. Such a cruise missile can be with a nuclear warhead, but in Syria it was replaced with a high-explosive and penetrating one. Obviously, the Aerospace Forces also used the extended-range version of the Kh-555, which is a modification of the Kh-55SM with overhead tanks and a maximum range of 3,500 kilometers.
The Dubna machine-building plant "Raduga" supplied the latest generation X-101 missiles for the Tu-160M, which were tested on Syrian terrorists for purely scientific purposes. A new terrain-corrected inertial navigation system and an optical autocorrelation homing head with a pre-laid target image allows for strikes with an accuracy of up to 10 meters. The missile is larger and heavier than its predecessors, and also has an increased flight range to the target - a non-nuclear modification is able to cover 5,000 kilometers. It is interesting that Tu-160M missile carriers went to targets from Mozdok along other routes than their younger and older counterparts. The targets for the White Swans are in the provinces of Idlib and Aleppo in northeastern Syria, not far from Khmeimim. Obviously, the leadership of the Aerospace Forces made such high-tech strikes primarily as a show and full-fledged combat tests. The overwhelming majority of strikes were carried out on pinpoint targets in desert areas, for which cruise missiles were unnecessary in their cost. Long-Range Aviation Commander Zhikharev reported on the results of the strikes to Putin: "During the execution of the strikes, the Tu-22M3 planes covered a distance of 4510 kilometers in one sortie, and the Tu-160M and Tu-95MS were in the air for 8 hours and 20 minutes."
The main bonus of strikes by strategists, in addition to the actual approbation, was the ability to hit targets of militants deep in the rear, which they did not expect. For the period of late 2015 - early 2016, they did not have the opportunity to withdraw their units to the rear for rest and replenishment - strategic bombers often worked on them. They beat on Idlib and its factories for the production of explosives, command posts and the headquarters of ISIS (an organization banned in the Russian Federation) with X-555 missiles from the Tu-95MS "Sevastopol". Tu-22M3 worked at oil refineries, oil pumping stations, ammunition depots and workshops in Raqqa and Deyz-Ez-Zor. Moreover, judging by the footage of the chronicle, sometimes sickly FAB-3000M54 flew on the heads of the bearded men. To fully assess the effectiveness of bombing, many strikes were recorded from different angles - from loitering helicopters, UAVs and aircraft's own optical systems. Cruise missiles were also launched from the Mediterranean Sea, where Tu-95MS carriers reached through Iran, the Indian Ocean and the Red Sea.
X-101 missiles on a revolving launcher in the armament compartment of a Tu-160 aircraft
Of course, the strikes of our strategists could not change the course of hostilities, and that was not their goal. Much more important is that we have once again demonstrated that, despite all the problems, our Long-Range Aviation is in good shape and can carry in the womb not only high-explosive warheads. Moreover, the tone is in full combat serviceability - only one Tu-95MS landed on a home airfield with the bomb bay doors open. The war of the strategists turned out to be short and in many ways fake, but quite menacing.
