“One US Fighter aircraft conducted a planned communications test with one Russian fighter aircraft per the provisions of the flight safety (memorandum of understanding) agreed to by both nations”, the Pentagon said in a statement.
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“The Russian military is accustomed to operating in an environment with a clear and unified chain of command”, the official said, adding that the lack of such structure is “likely to pose planning and operational challenges”. “ISIS are a very mobile gathering of rabble”, Bondarev said. “They use cars, motorbikes, bicycles and donkeys to move around and change their positions after every strike”. A key factor appears to be significant losses by pro-government forces of tanks and other armored vehicles to U.S.-made TOW anti-tank missiles that Saudi Arabia has been supplying to the anti-Assad rebels. “Aviation is a different story”.
Bondarev did not specify the type of missiles Russian Federation provided. “This test assured that the first time this mode of communication was used would not be during an unplanned encounter”.
US intelligence sources on Wednesday alleged that Russian Federation has doubled the number of its troops in Syria to about 4,000.
“The pilot had to take a split-second decision to perform an anti-missile maneuver”.
Commander Bondarev confirmed he has the technical means to monitor the situation in Syria through real-time satellites from the Russian Air Force headquarters. Moscow has been criticized in the West with increasing regularity for the accuracy of its airstrikes.
And third, he discusses the widespread Russian puzzlement over why the USA government is opposing, even denouncing, Putin’s air war in Syria (and now Iraq) against the Islamic State.
Russian diplomats and military officials contend the air attacks are aimed at Islamic State extremists.
Meanwhile, Syria’s deputy foreign minister said that a “transition period” in Syria is out of the question because President Bashar al-Assad is the legitimate leader. Russian forces also boast Mi-24 attack helicopters and multi-role Mi-8 helicopters.
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Last month the Russian army in Syria set up a 24-hour hotline with the IDF to avoid getting snared by each other.
