The Kremlin has deployed its latest generation attack helicopter fleet in Syria, in support of the ground offensive against Islamic State militants. The latest satellite photos from Airbus Defense & Space confirm the advanced movements. Four Ka-52 helicopters Alligator and Mi-28N N (photo below) were deployed in the Al-Shayrat base, 30 km south-east of Homs.
In the early stages of the Russian engagement in Syria, the base of Al-Shayrat was the advanced outpost for the Mi-24 and Mi-35 gunboats. At Hemeimeem, the main speculation base in Syria in the coastal province of Latakia, there is still the bulk of the Russian rotor forces composed of Mi-28N and KA-52 helicopters.
The Kremlin deployed Mi-35M gunboats optimized for night combat in the Tiyas base and 122 mm D-30 howitzers on the north side of the outpost. The previous assets in the Hemeimeem airbase and in the Tartus naval structure, the last Russian outpost in the region after the collapse of the Soviet Union, remain confirmed. The two Russian bases are protected by short, medium and long range S300 / S400 stratified tanks, T-90 tanks.
The Kremlin has also deployed high-precision ballistic systems optimized for use at close range Iskander, to protect the Humaymim air base. The variant deployed in Syria is ignored, which could be both ballistic and cruising. Finally, Hemeimeem and Tartus fall within the range of rotating missile cruisers deployed close to the Syrian coast. Unlike the constant updates of the Russian Ministry of Defense during the first phase of the conflict, in the second the details on the shadow and tactical support missions of its rotor force are practically null. The number of deployed helicopters is also unknown, which could now be three 30 and 40 units.
The latest-generation rotor gunboats are part of the second part of the Russian strategy and represent a response to surface-to-air missiles arriving in Syria (via the West). No Russian aircraft engaged in the early months of the conflict was equipped with electronic countermeasures against MANPADS. L370 disturbance systems Vitebsk, should be able to counter the MANPADS threat currently identified by the Russian Ministry of Defense in three systems: Lightning-2 (SA-7 'Grail'), Igla-1 (SA-16 'Gimlet') and Chinese FN-6 (HY-6). These high-end attack helicopters are far better suited to operate on a battlefield with a land-to-air threat than their predecessors.
Optimized for night operations, Havoc, Alligator e Mi-35M act as force multipliers for all tactical support missions.
(photo: Airbus Defense & Space / MoD Russian Fed)
