I wrote as a columnist about most disturbing similarities between the sinking of RMS Titanic and the circumstances of the planned military action against Assad's armed forces. Finally, as I have foreseen, this action was undertaken exactly on the 106. anniversary of this unparalleled sea desaster.
Very bad omen!
According to Russian MoD the Syrian Air Defence Force managed to shoot down around 68% of the Western cruise missiles launched
The statement resulted in a state of panic in the English language part of the world wide web. Of course, also an another attitude was highlighted there: the Russians are deliberately spreading false propaganda – don't believe them!
So, what the truth is?
First, Damascus and Moscow has praised Soviet arms made in the 1970s and 1980s, which were used to repel the missile attack, carried out by some much more modern attack weapons. The claims of 60 to 70% air defence success rate against incoming missiles, achieved reportedly with such old surface-to-air missile sets are, however, not only stunning but not likely to be true.
But, second, it is not completely impossible. To have a top-quality, highly modern command and guidance system is a necessary condition for that. Soviet anti-aircraft missile batteries, especially S-125 Neva (SA-3 Goa SAM system), have been designed since the 1970s in such a way that they can work with radars and computers of many different types – as open architecture systems.
Their tracking stations were presumably upgraded and should have capabilities to receive data from digital links.
If Russia has really provided Syria with substantial assistance in restoring its air defence capabilities, including for many bilateral drills, the end result of this assistance could be an astonishing one. According to one later Russian MoD report....
Also the most modern Russian-made air defence system was used to defend the Syrian air space
Pantsir-S1 is a combined short to medium range surface-to-air missile and anti-aircraft artillery weapon system. It was designed to provide point air defence of very important installations against warplanes, helicopters, precision munitions, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and cruise missiles.
According to Russian MoD spokesman this particular air defence system deployed by the Syrian forces showed almost 100% fire effectiveness.
It seems the Syrian military airfields were the real target of the Western missile strike
You should realize that one don't fire 103 or 105 huge missiles at 3 targets. Each missile had a payload of 1000 lbs of high explosive. So, at best, you would need 6 of them for each, real or alleged poison agent production facility of a high school building size, what makes a total of 18 missiles. So when the West says it fired 105 missiles, you should start to wonder, for what the rest was needed.
Well, all the rest was needed to destroy the Syrian military airfields together with the warplanes deployed there which are used as ground-attack and close air support force, being crucial for territorial gains of the Syrian Arab Army.
Seeing it that way you understand that the Western powers mission was not to protect the civilian population in Syria but take part in the total Proxy war.
This was crystal clear from the very beginning but the newest Russian radars and Russian military advisors played their role in the game too. Of course, the Western leaders would never admit that they are clowns now. Looking ahead to year 2020 we would likely see that this day the USS Titanic struck her iceberg. Well, it's a full scale Proxy war now. Good morning Vietnam, once again!