RAF "Green Lights" Attack on Hostile Russian Jets in Syria

Will the world clash over Syria? The Possibility of World War Three erupting over the Middle East just go a little scarier, as the RAF have given their pilots the green light to shoot down hostile Russian fighters in Syria.

A RAF Voyager KC2 refuels two RAF Tornado GR4 Aircraft over Iraq, March 4, 2015. Photo: USAF Staff Sgt. Perry Aston

(Below Written by Romil Patel of ibtimes.co.uk)

As relations between the West and Russia steadily deteriorate, Royal Air Force (RAF) pilots have been given the go-ahead to shoot down Russian military jets when flying missions over Syria and Iraq, if they are endangered by them. The development comes with warnings that the UK and Russia are now "one step closer" to being at war.

RAF Tornado pilots have been instructed to avoid contact with Russian aircraft while engaged in missions for Operation Shader – the code name for the RAF's anti-Isis work in Iraq and Syria. But their aircraft have been armed with air-to-air missiles and the pilots have been given the green light to defend themselves if they are threatened by Russian pilots.

"The first thing a British pilot will do is to try to avoid a situation where an air-to-air attack is likely to occur — you avoid an area if there is Russian activity," an unidentified source from the UK's Permanent Joint Headquarters (PJHQ) told the Sunday Times. "But if a pilot is fired on or believes he is about to be fired on, he can defend himself. We now have a situation where a single pilot, irrespective of nationality, can have a strategic impact on future events."

The RAF Tornados aircraft will be armed with heat-seeking Advanced Short Range Air-to-Air Missiles (Asraams, also called AIM-132 missiles). These weapons, which cost £200,000 each, can reach triple the speed of sound and have a longer range than other air-to-air missiles, allowing RAF pilots to shoot down enemy aircraft without being targeted themselves.

The Sunday Times' report quoted a defence source as saying: "Up till now RAF Tornados have been equipped with 500lb satellite-guided bombs — there has been no or little air-to-air threat. But in the last week the situation has changed. We need to respond accordingly."

"We need to protect our pilots but at the same time we're taking a step closer to war," said another source. "It will only take one plane to be shot down in an air-to-air battle and the whole landscape will change."
Russia in Syria

The move comes after Russia's entry into the civil war in Syria in support of President Bashar al-Assad's government forces. The US has branded Russia's involvement as "fundamentally flawed", with the Kremlin facing accusations that it is ignoring IS fighters to go after al-Assad's opponents.

According to a report in the Sunday Times, an appraisal carried out by UK defence officials said: "It took six days for Russia to strike any Isis targets at all. Their air strikes have included moderate opposition groups who have been fighting to defend their areas from Isis. Among the targets hit were three field hospitals."

In the past 24 hours Russia's Defence Ministry said that it has continued its air strikes on IS positions in Hama, Idlib, Latakia and Raqqa. It reported that the attacks resulted in the "complete destruction" of "53 fortified areas and strong points with armament and military hardware", seven ammunition depots, four field camps of "terrorists", one command centre, and artillery and mortar batteries.

On 28 September, when speaking to the US state-run Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Putin ruled out sending ground troops to Syria, saying it was "out of question".

NATO Will Support Turkey against Russia - if Needed

In a statement made yesterday by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg; NATO will defend all its members, including Turkey. Secretary General Stoltenberg was directly referencing Moscow's incursion into Turkish airspace earlier this week, and encounter with US fighter aircraft.

NATO is meeting with its members to discuss possible deployment options should Moscow continue to threaten NATO's southern boarder in Turkey. So will Canada become involved in Turkey? Only time will tell.

Below is an article published by CTV News Staff & the Associated Press:

John-Thor Dahlburg, The Associated Press
Published Thursday, October 8, 2015 3:34AM EDT
Last Updated Thursday, October 8, 2015 6:47AM EDT

BRUSSELS - NATO secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg said alliance defence ministers on Thursday will consider the implications for NATO's own security of the "troubling escalation of Russian military activities" in Syria.

He said NATO is ready to deploy forces, if needed, to defend alliance member Turkey.

On Wednesday, Russian warships fired cruise missiles in the first combined air-and-ground assault with Syrian government troops since Moscow began its military campaign in the country last week.

Over the weekend, Turkey reported back-to-back violations of its airspace by Russian warplanes.

U.S. Defence Secretary Ash Carter and his counterparts from the 27 other NATO nations had already been scheduled to meet Thursday in Brussels.

Stoltenberg told reporters the meeting will receive an update from its military commanders on the situation in Syria, as well as Afghanistan.

"In Syria, we have seen a troubling escalation of Russian military activities," Stoltenberg said. "We will assess the latest developments and their implications for the security of the alliance. This is particularly relevant in view of the recent violations of NATO's airspace by Russian aircraft."

NATO on Monday issued a statement demanding that the violations cease. Russia called its penetration of Turkish airspace a minor incident that was unintentional. Stoltenberg had already brushed off the Russian explanation.

"NATO is able and ready to defend all allies, including Turkey, against any threat," the secretary-general said Thursday. He said NATO had already increased "our capacity, our ability, our preparedness to deploy forces, including to the south, including in Turkey, if needed."

"We are constantly assessing the situation also with the Turkish government," Stoltenberg said, adding that he would be meeting later Thursday with Turkish Defence Minister Mehmet Vecdi Gonul.

British Defence Secretary Michael Fallon accused Russia of acting chiefly in Syria not to attack the Islamic State terrorist organization but to shore up the beleaguered government of President Bashar al-Assad, thus making a serious situation "much more dangerous." NATO officials have expressed fears there could be an encounter, accidental or otherwise, between Russian planes and air forces of the U.S.-led coalition attacking Islamic State in Syria.

"We'll be meeting today to see what we can do to de-escalate this crisis particularly in terms of air safety," Fallon said as he arrived at NATO headquarters. "We'll be calling on Russia specifically to stop propping up the Assad regime, to use their own (air) crews constructively to stop Assad bombing his own civilians."

German Defence Minister Ursula von der Leyen said Russia must recognize that if it targets opposition groups in Syria that are fighting Islamic State, "Russia will strengthen IS and this can be neither in the Russian interest, nor in our interest."

The defence ministers' meeting, their first since June, is also expected to approve ongoing efforts to retool NATO to meet a daunting array of contemporary security threats. Decisions expected include approval for two new NATO headquarters units in Hungary and Slovakia to enhance their defences and speed the deployment of reinforcements sent by other alliance nations, and changes in the beefed-up NATO Response Force to, in Stoltenberg's words, make it "bigger, faster and more capable."

"We are facing many challenges from many different directions," Stoltenberg said. "Conflict, instability and insecurity."

"We will assess what we have to do to adapt NATO to current and future challenges," he said-including cyberattacks and the mix of conventional and unconventional tactics commonly known as hybrid warfare.

Canada in Syria: No Coalition Cooperation with Russia

U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter said Wednesday the U.S.-led coalition has not agreed to cooperate with Russia in the fight against the Islamic State and no collaboration is possible as long as Moscow continues to strike other targets, the Associated Press writes.

Here is the rest of the Associated Press article:

He said the U.S. will conduct basic, technical talks with Russia about efforts to ensure that flights over Syria are conducted safely, and, “That’s it.”

Carter spoke during a press conference in Rome with Italian Defense Minister Roberta Pinotti. A Russian official has called for broader talks on cooperation in the Syrian conflict.

The United States, Carter said, is not prepared to cooperate with a strategy of Russia’s that is “tragically flawed.”

“They continue to hit targets that are not ISIL,” Carter said, using an acronym for the Islamic State group. “We believe that is a fundamental mistake.”

Carter said he is concerned about the Syrian ground offensive that began Wednesday backed by Russian airpower. Russia, which backs Syrian President Bashar Assad, has hit Western-backed rebels fighting Assad. The U.S. maintains that the only route to peace in Syria is to remove Assad from power.

The US was still waiting Wednesday for a formal response from Russia on a draft document laying out proposed technical safety procedures for the aircraft flights, said a senior U.S. defense official, speaking on condition of anonymity because the official wasn’t authorized to discuss the situation publicly.

Russia on Tuesday informed the United States that Moscow is willing to continue talks to ensure that the two countries’ aircraft don’t interfere with each other. But Russian Deputy Defense Minister Anatoly Antonov said the talks should be much broader and also cover potential international cooperation between Russia and the U.S.-led coalition fighting the Islamic State group.

The Pentagon only wants talks aimed at making sure there are no conflicts, collisions or other problems as the U.S.-led coalition and the Russians fly over Syria. The U.S. side has proposed a number of safety measures, including using specific international radio frequencies for distress calls by military pilots flying in Syrian airspace.

Carter had called on Russian leaders to discuss Moscow’s military activities in Syria, reflecting urgent concerns about Russian aircraft violating Turkish airspace. NATO on Monday denounced Russia for “irresponsible behavior” for allowing its warplanes to cross into Turkey.

U.S. and Russian officials met once by video conference late last week, before the Russian incursion into Turkish airspace.

Carter and other NATO defense ministers are expected to discuss how to deal with the problem when they meet in Brussels Thursday.

The U.S.-led coalition has been routinely conducting airstrikes on Islamic State militants in Syria.

Russia says the airstrikes it began last week are directed against the Islamic State group, as well as al-Qaida’s Syrian affiliates. But the U.S. and France say at least some of the strikes appear to have hit Western-backed rebel factions fighting government troops, with the real goal of protecting Assad.

On a week long trip to Europe, Carter is focused on reassuring European allies of U.S. support as they face growing security threats from a more aggressive Russia and militant extremists from north Africa.

(the above was written by the Associated Press)

Russia's First Airstrikes Against ISIS in Syria

(This article was written by the Associated Press)

The airstrikes targeted ISIS positions, vehicles and warehouses that Russia believes belong to the militants, ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov told Russian news agencies. Islamic State is also referred to as ISIS.

A Russian SU 25 SM Ground Attach Aircraft during a Training Exercise in March 2015. Photo: National Post/Getty Images

Russia’s upper chamber of parliament earlier on Wednesday gave the green light to President Vladimir Putin’s request to send Russian troops to Syria.

Putin said the Russian air force will be supporting the Syrian army in its offensive operations.

Russia is “not going to plunge into this conflict head-on,” Putin said, and Moscow will help Syrian President Bashar Assad’s army as long as their offensive operation lasts.

Putin also said he expects Assad to sit down and talk with the Syrian opposition about a political settlement.

Russian lawmakers voted unanimously Wednesday to allow Putin to order airstrikes in Syria, where Russia has deployed fighter jets and other weapons in recent weeks.

Putin had to request parliamentary approval for any use of Russian troops abroad, according to the constitution. The last time he did so was before Russia annexed Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula in March 2014.

The vote comes after Putin’s meeting Monday with President Barack Obama on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly meeting in New York, where the two discussed Russia’s recent military buildup in Syria. Speaking after his meeting with Obama, Putin kept the door open for airstrikes but ruled out ground action.

Putin and other officials have said Russia was providing weapons and training to Assad’s army to help it combat IS. Russian navy transport vessels have been shuttling back and forth for weeks to ferry troops, weapons and supplies to an air base near the Syrian coastal city of Latakia. IHS Jane’s, a leading defence research group, said last week that satellite images of the base showed 28 jets, including Su-30 multirole fighters, Su-25 ground attack jets, Su-24 bombers and possibly Ka-52 helicopter gunships.

The Islamic State group has captured large parts of both Syria and Iraq.

(This article was written by the Associated Press)