War of 08.08.08, NATO intervention in Libya and the operation of the Russian Armed Forces in Syria
In continuation of the article The evolution of wars and armed conflicts: from Desert Storm to Enduring Freedom.
08.08.08 War
While we were organizing transport corridors so that the United States could get its stars-and-stripes ass out of the war in Afghanistan, they “in gratitude” were preparing Georgia to invade South Ossetia and Abkhazia in order to continue ousting Russia from the Caucasus region. In the process of preparation, the budget of the Georgian Armed Forces (AF) increased 30 times, to almost 1 billion US dollars. Weapons were purchased and Georgian armed forces personnel were trained according to NATO standards.
On August 8, 2008, the Georgian Armed Forces launched an invasion of South Ossetia, which resulted in the death of Russian peacekeepers and civilians. Despite the “training according to NATO standards,” the Georgian army did not show itself in any way, turning to flight every time it met the regular army of the Russian Federation – “timid Georgians fled.” Presumably, the Georgians' hopes were connected with isolating the combat area by destroying/holding the Roki tunnel, but they failed to achieve this, as a result of which reinforcements continued to arrive to the Russian Armed Forces, and the defeat of the Georgian Armed Forces could no longer be avoided. One could assume that the capture of Tbilisi was almost inevitable, but for some reason the Russian Armed Forces stopped.
Russian Armed Forces at the entrance to the Roki tunnel
The war of 08.08.08 lasted 3 days and reminded that “God is on the side of large battalions”, no NATO preparation for fighting the rebels will help against the “real” army.
At the same time, the shortcomings of the RF Armed Forces were also revealed - a terrible situation with communications, when civilian cellular communications were used to transmit commands to units, as well as significant losses aviation The Russian Armed Forces, including the Ta-22M3 long-range bomber, which brings us back to the problem of the lack of aviation electronic warfare equipment, which we already discussed in the previous material. And yet, it was impossible not to note that the RF Armed Forces have become much stronger compared to the post-Soviet period of general degradation of the 90s - a “skeleton” has appeared, and the “meat” will grow...
And finally, perhaps the most memorable moment of the war on 08.08.08 was the use of Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili’s own tie as a sedative.
It can be assumed that if the Russian Armed Forces had entered Tbilisi in August 2008, seized Mikheil Saakashvili and handed him over to the authorities of South Ossetia, and they would have hanged him as a war criminal, then the coup in Ukraine in 2014 might not have taken place - far from it It’s not a fact that the United States could convince the Ukrainian “revolutionaries” that they too would not be hanged
"Dawn of an Odyssey" (2011)
The intervention in Libya is perhaps the third (full-scale) case of the US and NATO destroying a country from the air, which happened after Iraq and Yugoslavia. Nothing globally new - aerial bombardment of natives who are unable to respond, the transformation of, perhaps not the most “democratic”, but quite stable country into a cesspool of poverty and terror.
For the first time, the main role in the conflict was played not by the United States, but by France, whose interests were most seriously threatened by Muammar Gaddafi. At least they landed the first blows. At the same time, it is far from certain that the weakened European armed forces would have been able to complete the invasion with a positive result without the support of the US Armed Forces.
The most expensive combat aircraft in stories humanity is returning after striking the richest (at that time) country in Africa - Gaddafi should have played less multi-vector...
Under the leadership of Muammar Gaddafi, the “Great Man-Made River” project was implemented, which included a huge system of pipes, aqueducts and more than 1300 wells with a depth of over 500 meters, supplying the Libyan cities of Tripoli, Benghazi, Sirte and many others with drinking water in an amount of about 6,5 billion liters in a day. During the bombing, NATO countries almost completely destroyed the infrastructure necessary for the operation of the pipelines of the Great Man-Made River project. There are versions that it was the “Great Man-Made River” that became one of the reasons for the intervention in Libya. Most likely, Western countries simply “mothballed” this source of fresh water for themselves – a kind of investment in the future.
It is characteristic that all three major military conflicts involving NATO countries - the war in Iraq, the war in Yugoslavia and the intervention in Libya - became the cause of disputes between supporters and opponents of aircraft carriers, in terms of what influence carrier strike groups (CAS) had during these conflicts. However, this is not the question at all - the fact is that AUGs are quite effective in the fight against third world countries, there is no particular doubt, the question is How stable will they be during combat operations with an enemy of comparable strength?.
War in Syria (2015)
In fact, the war in Syria began back in 2011, but the interesting moment for us was when Russia joined it, and this happened in 2015. In a sense, we repeated the actions of the United States within the framework of Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan - strikes by the Russian Aerospace Forces (VKS) and ground operations by Syrian government forces. However, there are significant differences.
Firstly, we did not overthrow the current regime, but supported it, and were in Syria at the invitation of the legitimate government, unlike the United States and many other countries involved in the conflict. Secondly, the above uninvited participants in the Syrian conflict actively supported opponents of the current regime of Bashar al-Assad, including direct attacks on Russian Aerospace Forces aircraft - we must not forget about the treacherous Turkish strike on the Su-24M front-line bomber and the death of our pilots - remember this when you relax in “hospitable” Turkey.
Russian Su-24M front-line bomber shot down by a Turkish F-16C fighter - we must not forget about this blatant act of aggression on the part of Turkey
Many have questioned the expediency of Russia’s participation in the Syrian conflict, although against the backdrop of current events this seems like a trifle that most no longer remember. Of course, except for those who directly participated in this war. Nevertheless, it cannot be denied that the Russian Armed Forces acquired vast experience in Syria and tested the latest weapons and tactics, although the right conclusions were not always drawn from this.
For example, it was in Syria that the Russian Armed Forces encountered homemade unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), including kamikaze UAVs, bomber UAVs that dropped various ammunition on our units, as well as UAVs that corrected mortar fire. Their limited number made it possible to relatively successfully combat them with the available means, but no one thought of scaling up the problem when such UAVs would be used during the conflict by thousands, or even tens of thousands.
In Syria, the Russian Armed Forces for the first time encountered the active use by the enemy of homemade kamikaze UAVs and UAV bombers, and commercial and civilian models were used as mortar fire spotters
It was in Syria that Russia first fully deployed the Wagner PMC. Yes, they have previously worked in different countries of the world, but, apparently, not on such a scale. Unfortunately, thanks famous events this unique experience may be lost, although there was simply no need to leave Russian PMCs in the “gray zone.” We previously spoke about the advantages of legalizing PMCs in Russia in the materials Private military companies: exporting aggression и Private military companies: choice of weapons.
It was in Syria that the SVP-24 Hephaestus sighting and navigation system began to be actively used, providing the highest possible hit accuracy for unguided free-falling bombs. This allowed some experts to argue that we don’t really need guided bombs - let the “stupid Americans” bother with them. However, bombing bearded terrorists from a safe height and fighting against a technically equipped and trained enemy is not the same thing, as we later became convinced of.
When delivering bomb strikes from a great height, no Hephaestus will provide hit accuracy comparable to that of guided/adjustable aerial bombs, not to mention the impossibility of using long-range unguided glide munitions
In Syria, the Russian Armed Forces also encountered our real enemies. As mentioned above, the Turks shot down our Su-24M front-line bomber, and the American AH-64 Apache helicopter attacked the fighters of the Wagner PMC. Israel has repeatedly launched (and is still delivering) strikes against Syria, putting our soldiers and civilian personnel at risk, and also “exposed” our Il-20 aircraft to the attack of the Syrian anti-aircraft missile system (SAM).
In turn, the United States launched a massive attack on Syrian military targets with Tomahawk cruise missiles. As usual, according to Russian sources, most of them were intercepted, while according to American data, all missile launchers hit their intended targets. In turn, Syria has also become a testing ground for Russian long-range missiles, although, in principle, for weapons There is no such class of targets in Syria, so these were more likely a kind of field tests. Apparently, during the fighting in Syria, many different new weapons and tactics for their use were tested.
It can be assumed that without the experience gained by the Russian Armed Forces during the war of 08.08.08, and most importantly, the experience gained during combat operations in Syria, conducting a special military operation in Ukraine would have become a much greater test for our country, but that’s what we’re talking about We'll talk about it in the next article.
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