It is coded as "Box 4" and is an area in northern Syria from 48 hours forbidden to all Coalition planes. Confirmation comes directly from the Air Force.
The area, along the Turkish border, known as the Azaz corridor, "Swarms of Russian surface-to-air missiles", which is why the US-led coalition temporarily suspended all types of activities. Considering the stratified Russian missile capacity based on the S-300 / 400 systems, all C3 flights (Command, Control and Communications) and UAV reconnaissance have been temporarily banned.
It is clear that the Coalition, along the Azaz corridor, is practically blind from the air, with analysis of the context entrusted only to military satellites. The Corridor Azaz it is considered a fundamental path for jihadist infiltration and anti-government forces. In recent weeks, the Russians have intensified ground-based raids on the Box-4 by loyalist troops.
This along the cAzaz corridor is the first forbidden area (in addition to the Russian operational bases) to the aircraft of the US-led Coalition. And in the next few hours, other sectors of Syria could be off limits.
The S-300 / 400 systems, designed to protect areas of strategic importance, represent the highest point of Russian ground-to-air defense systems. Each battery can attack more than half a dozen targets simultaneously. Among the targets that the Russians are sure to be able to break down, the F-22 also appears Raptor which we know to be operational in the Region. Weapons systems, it should be noted, which in the war against the Islamic State have no tactical value. The Islamic State does not have an air force and in theory does not represent a threat to traditional platforms to the point of justifying the deployment of low observability systems. It would be fair to say that Russians and Westerners are using their own weapon systems to counter their respective counterparts, equipped with modern assets.
Finally, it should be noted that the Syrian question represents for Moscow the great opportunity to test its new weapons and the reference doctrine against a modern army like that of the United States. The experience in Syria will shape the future Russian tactic.
(photo: Sputnik)
