International Military Review – Syria-Iraq battlespace – Feb. 1, 2016

a few days old, since it takes a while to get posted.
Pepe on Geneva farce.

Don’t bomb “our” rebels

It’s easy to pinpoint who’s livid with all the Russian action: Saudi Arabia, Turkey and – last but not least – the ‘Empire of Chaos’, all at the table in Geneva.

Jabhat al-Nusra – remote-controlled by Ayman al-Zawahiri – is intimately linked to a gaggle of Salafi-jihadists in the Saudi-sponsored Army of Conquest, as well as tactically allied with myriad outfits nominally grouped in the nearly extinct Free Syrian Army (FSA).

The CIA, using the Saudis for plausible deniability, fully weaponized “vetted” FSA outfits, which received, among other things, TOW anti-tank missiles. Guess who “intercepted” virtually all the weapons: Jabhat al-Nusra.

The follow-up was nothing short of hilarious: Washington, Ankara and Riyadh furiously denouncing Moscow for bombing their “moderate rebels” and not ISIS/ISIL/Daesh.

http://www.globalresearch.ca/you-have-now-landed-in-geneva-syria/5504855

Israeli satellite photos show Russian Air Force deployment in Syria

The photos also show ten Sukhoi Su-25, a lighter jet, seven advanced Sukhoi Su-35 fighter jets, and four advanced interception and attack Sukhoi Su-30 aircraft.

The Russian Air Force operations in the area are done in real time coordination with its Israeli counterpart through a mechanism set by the heads of the two militaries six months ago.

“We can see from the photos that the Russians stationed and began operating the S-400 batteries, and stationed alongside them Pantsir SA-22 missiles, also purchased by Iran, in order to protect the batteries from attack,” Inbar said. “The Russians upped the aerial defense on their air base after one of their aircraft was shot down by the Turkish Air Force because they were worried about escalation.”

“The Russians have an organized combat doctrine when it comes to deploying their air force, and if they operate out of a foreign air base, then they have appropriate defense methods. The way they see it, they’re here to stay, perhaps even for a long period of time, and that’s why they’re treating this base as Russian territory that needs to be defended in order to ensure freedom of operation,” he said.

“You can still see evidence of the vast number of attack sorties at the maintenance structures set up in the field, where Sukhoi Su-24 aircraft are going through repairs and engine replacement due to wear caused by the planes’ high level of activities in the Syrian airspace,” Inbar added.

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4760807,00.html

Map: The Battle for Aleppo – the “Mother of all battles” by Peto Lucem

On February 1, the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) launched their long awaited offensive in the northern Aleppo countryside. The operation’s main objective: breaking the siege of two isolated loyalist towns; Nubbol and Zahraah.

Since 2012 in this area, approximately 35,000 civilians are besieged by al-Nusra (Syria’s Al Qaida branch) and other insurgents. By reaching these two towns, SAA would also be able to cut the last supply routes running from the Turkish Border south towards Aleppo, Syria’s largest city and the country’s former commercial hub. The battle’s scale and importance led observers to name the struggle for Aleppo, The mother of all Battles. Both war parties know the side which captures Aleppo wins more than just a city. This side will win Syria’s north and therefore – most probably – the war.

Although the SAA’s offensive was predictable and the fact that the insurgents had years to entrench in the area, Government forces were able to gain ground early in their offensive. Following heavy artillery preparation fire that commenced in the early morning hours, elements of the elite 4th Mechanized Division supported by crack Hezbollah units commenced their assault. The village of Duwayr al-Zeytoun was swiftly secured. The SAA also liberated the farming areas nearby and near the village of Bashkuy. The loss of Government forces was relatively low. Only a couple of BMPs and tanks were knocked out by insurgents TOW missiles or got trapped in tank ditches. Although many observers thought this push would just be a preliminary offensive with limited goals, in order to launch the main assault some days later, the SAA pushed on. The important village of Tall Jibbin was liberated in the early afternoon. Simultaneously to this attack, the SAA also assaulted the areas between Aleppo and the liberated areas to the north and expanded their control in the Al-Mallah farming area. Al -Mallah lies directly north of the strategic Castello-ring road, which represents the last insurgent supply route into Aleppo.

The first day proved to be a full success for the Government forces. An important factor was – without doubt – the attacker’s air force. The SAA received very accurate and powerful close air support (CAS) by the Russian Airforce, which flew more than 200 sorties on the first day of the offensive. Due to the Russian CAS, many of the defense lines of the insurgents crumbled. The airpower also prevented insurgent reinforcements to reach the combat areas and – most importantly – destroyed many Command and Control Centers. The death of some of the most capable and high ranked leaders and field commanders will most likely hamper the insurgents defense capabilities further in the upcoming decisive days. Opposition sources confirmed the death of many senior leaders including insurgent’s Sham Legion’s commander and his deputy. The leader of Jaish al Islam in Aleppo area was also a confirmed casualty.

On the morning of February 2, the SAA and allied forces were able to liberate the town of Hardatnin located only 4-5 kilometers to the west of the forward defense positions of Nubbol and Zahraa. They also achieved a breakthrough into the city of Rityan. Later that day, the garrison Nubbol and Zahraa also launched assaults on insurgent positions located to the their south-east and broke into the insurgent held village of Byanoon.

The following days will likely make the position of the insurgent forces deployed in Aleppo’s northern countryside worse. As soon as the army will reach Nubbol and Zahraa, Government forces will probably launch the second phase of the offensive operation. By that, they will most likely attack insurgent held areas in west and northwest Aleppo in order to cut off insurgent forces inside Aleppo entirely and to widen the security zone around the city. Therefore, the SAA will have to capture Mansoura suburb in Aleppo’s west and the insurgent strongholds of Bayanoon, Haritan and Kafr Hamra and Anadan which are already under heavy SAA artillery and RuAF bombardment. The Mother of all Battles will therefore enter its final stage soon.

http://southfront.org/map-the-battle-for-aleppo-the-mother-of-all-battles/#st_refDomain=t.co&st_refQuery=/2Fx93YvnNY

Just to note, lots of short vids up u-tube various channels showing off latest prototypes & just-in-service hardware all countries.
This AF Update channel here is run by someone with nothing better or constructive to do, a full-blown war pimp.
Could even be a paid employee of the MIC somewhere sole “job function”.

And of course all unclassified, probably 90% BS & corporate cheerleading propaganda.
Here’s one claims US to have from 2014 a S-400 destroying laser stealth drone!

US Air force STEALTH UAV armed with LASER GUN to kill S-400 defence
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sPl_xKPI_5w
Published on Aug 20, 2014

New us air force UAV made to kill russian s-400 air defence The General Atomics Avenger (formerly Predator C) is a developmental unmanned combat air vehicle built by General Atomics Aeronautical Systems for the United States military. Its first flight occurred on 4 April 2009.[2][3] Unlike the previous MQ-1 Predator and MQ-9 Reaper (Predator B) drones, the Avenger is powered by a turbofan engine, and its design includes stealth features such as internal weapons storage, and an S-shaped exhaust for reduced heat and radar signature.[4]

Peace is breaking out all over.
this one a more out-of-the-news battle, because of the huge Aleppo SAA offensive underway in Syria.

Ramadi 110 km W of Baghdad:
http://w0.fast-meteo.com/locationmaps/Ramadi.8.gif

Tue Feb 02, 2016 8:28
EXCLUSIVE: Iraqi Forces Advancing in Northeastern Ramadi

TEHRAN (FNA)- The Iraqi forces made fresh advances in the Northeastern part of Ramadi city, in Anbar province, against the ISIL terrorists.

The Iraqi army and volunteer forces (Hashd al-Shaabi) gained new military gains since the start of their mop-up operations in al-Sajjariya region in the Northeastern suburbs of Ramadi city.

The Iraqi forces have pushed back the terrorists from many areas in Sajjariya region.

On Tuesday morning, a group of Iraqi forces started new operations to purge al-Sufiya and al-Bu Ghanem of terrorists.

Also today, the Iraqi Security forces managed to cut off supply routes to ISIL terrorists in city of Fallujah.
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13941113001668