Small Wars Journal

Turkey’s Killer Drone Swarm Poses Syria Air Challenge to Putin / Syria War: Turkey Intensifies Idlib Onslaught After Air Strike

Mon, 03/02/2020 - 12:42am

Turkey’s Killer Drone Swarm Poses Syria Air Challenge to Putin by Selcan Hacaoglu – Bloomberg

Turkey deployed swarms of killer drones to strike Russian-backed Syrian government forces, in what a senior official said was a military innovation that demonstrated Ankara’s technological prowess on the battlefield.

The retaliation for the killing last week of 33 Turkish soldiers by Syrian forces involved an unprecedented number of drones in coordinated action, said the senior official in Turkey with direct knowledge of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s Syria policy. It was the first time a country had commanded the air space over such a large area using drone swarms, according to the official.

The series of strikes since Thursday by dozens of the remotely-controlled aircraft targeted Syrian bases and chemical warfare depots, the Turkish military said. But Turkey also located and destroyed some Syrian missile-defense systems, raising questions about the effectiveness of the Russian-made equipment intended to deter such air attacks.

“That’s something only Israel had been recorded publicly to have done until now,” Charles Lister, director of the Extremism and Counterterrorism Program at the Middle East Institute, said on Twitter, in reference to video footage taken by a Turkish drone allegedly showing the destruction of a Syrian army air-defense system. Turkey was waging an “air campaign run entirely by armed drones backed up” by heavy rocket artillery, he said…

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Syria War: Turkey Intensifies Idlib Onslaught After Air Strike – BBC News

Turkey shot down two Syrian fighter jets on Sunday as it intensified military action in northern Syria.

The pilots parachuted to safety over Idlib province, where Turkish troops and rebels have been clashing with Syrian government forces.

Turkey, which backs the opposition, said it had also targeted Syrian air defence systems and dozens of tanks.

Tensions in Idlib escalated sharply last week when at least 33 Turkish soldiers were killed in an air strike.

The incident sparked fears of a major escalation involving Turkey and Syria's main military ally, Russia.

But, on Sunday, Turkish Defence Minister Hulusi Akar said the country did not want conflict with Russia…

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