Air Strikes by VKS & SyAAF, 19 June 2017

Two helicopters launched from Almazza, at 12.14 and 12.35, and went in south-western direction (i.e. in general direction of the Golan…

Two helicopters launched from Almazza, at 12.14 and 12.35, and went in south-western direction (i.e. in general direction of the Golan Heights), and a Russian aircraft was reported while overflying Houla, around 12.39. Another Russian aircraft was registered while approaching Houla around 3.44, and at 03.36, a single (Russian) helicopter launched from Tiyas AB. At 04.04, another Russian aircraft passed Houla in south-eastern direction, closing the nocturnal activity for this day.

The SyAAF went into action with a take-off of one MiG-23 from Tiyas, at 10.05. This turned in south-eastern direction. Shayrat then launched one Su-22 in northern direction at 10.27. Centre of activity remained Tiyas, though: this launched one Su-24 at 10.30, one Su-22 at 10.39, another Su-24 at 11.02, and one more at 11.19. Meanwhile, Kweres launched one Su-22 at 11.18. Dmeyr dispatched one MiG-23 in southern direction at 11.43, and Shayrat one Su-22 at the same time. One helicopter took off from Almazza at 12.34, and Kweres launched two Su-22s at 12.37 and 12.38. Another MiG-23 took off from Dmeyr at 12.45. Nearly all of these aircraft went in northern direction, and seem to have supported the ‘SAA’s’ recapture of Ressafah from the Daesh. Some might have even been involved in recovery of the downed (by the USA) Su-22-pilot: this was first reported by al-Maydeen TV. Just for comparison, the RT reported negotiations with the PKK/PYD/YPG/SDF instead…

With all the lies spread by both instances, one can only wonder what exactly happened… :rolleyes:

At 13.03, another helicopter lifted from Almazza and flew in direction of Dera’a, while in the north one Russian aircraft was reported while orbiting Jebel Kurd. At 13.17, the Russians launched one aircraft from Hmemmem AB (this went in south-eastern direction), and at 14.32 Kweres launched another Su-22. Rest of the afternoon was absolutely quiet.

At 19.40 and 19.56, Tiyas scrambled two Su-24s, both of which went in north-eastern direction. The Russians then launched one fighter-bomber at 21.45, and another at 23.22, while Tiyas closed the day by a take-off of one L-39 at 23.42.

Overall, this is proving that the Russian threats against US and allied aircraft are desinformation (i.e. as US General Keane described such threats, ‘rubbish’): if they want to threaten anybody flying over central and north-eastern Syria — even if they would only want to ‘escort’ every US or allied mission there — they would have to enforce this with dozens of sorties. Instead, they barely flew yesterday. Sure, some in the West are nervous, to put it mildly; for example, Sky News reports a temporary stop of RAAF operations over Iraq (RAAF = Royal Australian Air Force, has a detachment deployed at Cyprus, this is transiting Turkey and Syria on the way in and out from the combat zone).

Assadists remain determined to demonstrate their right to fly wherever they want to fly. All nice and fine, but it’s clear that — even in the light of massive efforts to return as many aircraft as possible to operational condition — the SyAAF’s fleet of fighter bombers and helicopters is continuously decreasing, and only occasional ‘outbursts’ of intensive flying are now possible.

Totals

VKS

fighter-bombers: 6

helicopters: 1

UAVs: 2

recce: 1

SyAAF

L-39s: 1

helicopters: 4

MiG-21s: 0

MiG-23s: 3

Su-22s: 7

Su-24s: 5