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The Military

Turkey Deploys a 'Swarm' of Unmanned Combat Aircraft (msn.com) 50

Posted by EditorDavid from the drone-deployments dept.
Turkey deployed dozens of unmanned "drone" combat aircraft over Syria, calling the maneuver a new military milestone, reports 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.... Ankara appeared eager to show off its aerial firepower. The Defense Ministry posted a series of videos on Twitter showing Syrian tanks and artillery being destroyed in apparent drone attacks.
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Turkey Deploys a 'Swarm' of Unmanned Combat Aircraft More

Turkey Deploys a 'Swarm' of Unmanned Combat Aircraft

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  • Turkeys? (Score:4, Funny)

    by Opportunist ( 166417 ) on Monday March 02, 2020 @08:15AM (#59786864)

    They fly now?

  • A 'Swarm'? (Score:4, Funny)

    by nospam007 ( 722110 ) * on Monday March 02, 2020 @08:17AM (#59786866)

    Wouldn't it be more accurate to call them a 'Murder' like with crows?

  • Russian AA... (Score:3)

    by sinij ( 911942 ) on Monday March 02, 2020 @08:20AM (#59786882)

    I think the only thing Russian AA systems are good for are shooting down civilian aircraft.

  • I may be a bit foggy about the details, but I seem to remember that we frown upon some country fighting some other country over that other country's territory, unless there's been an attack in the opposite direction beforehand.

    • Have modpoints today, but I just can't resist, so here we go:

      Irak?

      Iran?

      Vietnam?

      Korea?

      Maybe the US just hasn't got your memo or something.

      • Ask the South Koreans if they want to live under the North Korean Regime. That was pretty much defensive, in fact it was a major surprise to the US when the North suddenly overran their positions. The US was there because they sort of inherited the place from the Japanese after the war, and were planning on leaving.

        The South Vietnamese Government asked them for help and invited them in, there was no aggressive invasion, at least not int eh beginning.

        Iran and the US have been hostile with each other in the G

        • Ever read a history book?

          You are a good comedian, I have never laugh so much.

          Iran, U.S. made the regime change before the Islamic Revolution, that is the cause why Iran "hate our democrazy" so much.

          Iraq, the science fiction W.M.D.

          South Vietnamese Gov was not legitimate (Google it, there are ton of books for this). AND if you proud so much about "reading history book", I have a hint for you "gulf of Tonkin".
          https://msuweb.montclair.edu/~... [montclair.edu]

          Jeffrey Race, former American Army advisor in South Vietnam:
          The [South Vietnamese] government terrorized far more than did the revolutionary movement ... for example, by liquidations of former Vietminh, by artillery and ground attacks on 'communist villages' and by roundups of 'communist sympathizers'.

          The South Vietnamese Government was a US puppet régime forced upon the population. Of Premier Ngo Dinh Diem Look magazine (January 28, 1965) said:
          Secretary of State Dulles picked him, Senator Mansfield endorsed him, Francis Cardinal Spellman praised him, Vice-President Nixon liked him, and President Eisenhower supported him.
          In June 1956 Diem organized two massive expeditions to the regions that were controlled by the communists without the slightest use of force. His soldiers arrested tens of thousands of people ... Hundreds, perhaps thousands of peasants were killed. Whole villages whose populations were not friendly to the government were destroyed by artillery. These facts were kept secret from the American people.

          you, yes it's from you:

          there was no aggressive invasion, at least not int eh beginning.

          Communism in History and Theory: Asia, Africa, and the America

    • Re:Why is it ok for Turkey to attack Syrian forces (Score:5, Informative)

      by rmdingler ( 1955220 ) on Monday March 02, 2020 @08:58AM (#59786994) Journal

      I may be a bit foggy about the details, but I seem to remember that we frown upon some country fighting some other country over that other country's territory, unless there's been an attack in the opposite direction beforehand.

      The retaliation for the killing last week of 33 Turkish soldiers by Syrian forces...

      Right there in the summary. This is the breed of human laziness that "Free Trial Period" marketing depends upon.

      • Why is Turkey fighting Syrians in Syria?

        • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

          by rmdingler ( 1955220 )

          Simple answer: That's where the Syrians are who are not loyal to Turkish-backed forces.

          Complicated answer: Erdogan wishes to frame a regime change favorable to Turkey in the post-Assad era. The US, Russia, and China aren't the only nations interested in shaping the governments of satellite countries.

          If this is a "right or wrong" value assessment test, then yeah, humans are selfishly shitty sometimes.

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by cusco ( 717999 )

            Well, we've been hearing about preparations for the "post-Assad era" to start since 1972, but since he still has backing of the majority of the population I don't see it happening any time soon. The Israelis never managed to kill him or his father, which implies a rather ferocious loyalty among his inner circle as well. Little Syria is the only country which managed to avoid the imposition of the religious fanatics backed by Obama/Clinton in the "Arab Spring", which bizarrely made al Qaeda-affiliated grou

            • You're probably right.

              It could be argued persuasively that US meddling in the affairs of other sovereign nations has backfired spectacularly. Iraq is a mess since Saddam was toppled, Iran's Ayatollah is a direct result of the US influence peddling with the former Shah, and much of the resentment from Central & South American nations stems from previous American meddling.

              Yet, most nations in a position to influence the affairs of others are quite unable to forego the temptation.

      • Nope, that doesn't explain it. Those Turkish soldiers were killed while fighting against Syria over Syria. Meeting resistance when attacking another country does not justify attacking that country.
      • And what were Turkish soldiers doing in Syria...Syria is trying to expel terrorists out of the Idlib province. Seems like Turkey was supporting the terrorists.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by cusco ( 717999 )

          Yeah, the US pays them to do it with free weapons and by turning a blind eye to some of their financial shenanigans.

    • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

      by creatorX64 ( 6656054 )

      but I seem to remember that we frown upon some country fighting some other country over that other country's territory, unless there's been an attack in the opposite direction beforehand.

      Well, the situation is more complicated than what you're suggesting. In a nutshell, here's the sequence of events that led Turkey to this point:

      1. 1. Turkey accepted millions of refugees that flew from Syria due to a violent regime that caused hundreds of deaths.
      2. 2. Seeing that there were more and more refugees seeking a safe haven in their country, Turkey requested for help from other countries and international organizations in order to combat this humanitarian crisis.
      3. 3. After getting little-to-no help f
      • 3) Turkey is receiving billions in aid from Europe to help deal with the refugees. This after threats from Erdogan that he would flood Europe with these refugees. A threat that he is making good on as we speak.

        4) Turkey supports the FSA partly as a divide and conquer strategy, but perhaps more importantly because the FSA fights the Kurds. Following a successful military campaign by the YPG and others, there suddenly was a possibility that the Kurds might wrest their own state or at least an autonomous re

      • Re: (Score:1)

        by Anonymous Coward

        It's not _quite_ that simple. You have to remember that Turkey is part of the problem in Syria, in that rather than enjoying the fact that the Kurds did an amazing job of neutralising ISIS with coalition air support and allowing the refugees to move into that safe zone he instead decided to arbitrarily attack the Kurds just because like all fascist authoritarian leaders he needs a hate target to rally his base against, and in turn removed that safe zone leaving Turkey proper as the only safe zone.

        Not being

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by cusco ( 717999 )

        1) Do you recall what provoked that flood of refugees? Obama and Clinton paying mercenaries and foreign jihadists to start a phantasmagorical "rebellion" during their "Arab Spring" shenanigans. They thought Assad was much weaker than he turned out to be, so Syria is the only survivor of that attempt to stamp out secular government in the Middle East.

  • Also lasers (Score:4, Interesting)

    by spiritplumber ( 1944222 ) on Monday March 02, 2020 @08:57AM (#59786992) Homepage
    Turkey is doing a lot with (relatively) little. Interesting. Hopefully they'll see that sci/tech is more important than Islamic revanchism, since one of them actually works.

    For the laser stuff: https://www.armyrecognition.co... [armyrecognition.com]

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Jzanu ( 668651 )
      This is the future of warfare. Like every other actually disruptive military technology it starts with novel usage against a temporarily better equipped foe. Turkey has a force imbalance in its lack of a massive airforce to support its massive army. These drones allow the army to support itself and increase combat effectiveness. In contrast, Russia has old outdated hardware that can't face the West, or these new tactics. In the first examples where it was tested both Israel with high tech and Turkey with co

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by fubarrr ( 884157 )

        Flying low is not high tech.

        No air defence is complete without airborne component, and this is how Israel keeps flying in and out of Syria using their prehistoric F4s: their radars simply don't see them so low

  • Drone swarms (Score:3)

    by sound+vision ( 884283 ) on Monday March 02, 2020 @09:05AM (#59787010) Journal

    Sounds a bit similar to the drone swarms that recently definitely didn't fly over Colorado.

  • Will Turkey stop at just retribution? (Score:3)

    by LostMyAccount ( 5587552 ) on Monday March 02, 2020 @09:15AM (#59787044)

    What I mostly expect is a score-settling by Turkey that destroys some buildings and knocks out some Syrian military assets, and then calls it even.

    I'm curious, though, whether Turkey plans to go further than that and more aggressively try to degrade Syrian military capability in something like a military offensive.

    At some point I feel like the Russians are going to be forced to step in on the Syrians' behalf, lest the Turks set back Syrian progress too far. The question will be whether the Turks will be willing to skirmish with the Russians as well.

    I feel like there's some chance the Turks will be willing to bloody the Russians a bit and force the Russians to decide how badly they want to engage a military force with more teeth than they're normally used to fighting.

    • At some point I feel like the Russians are going to be forced to step in on the Syrians' behalf, lest the Turks set back Syrian progress too far. The question will be whether the Turks will be willing to skirmish with the Russians as well.

      Considering the Pantsir AA system has been shown to be completely impotent, and both the S-300 and S-400 haven't shown any use either, it's a good bet Turkey will keep up the pressure and take out whatever Syrian targets they want and carve out an area in northwestern Syria.

      The only thing keeping Assad in power is Russian military support and Iranian manpower. Were it not for those two pieces, Assad would be holding onto only Damascus.

      • I guess I'm curious how many Turkish gains and Syrian losses Russia is willing to tolerate before they get a lot more aggressive, especially if/when there is Russian collateral damage.

        I don't see the Iranians at this point willing to confront Turkey at this point, mostly due to their emerging COVID-19 outbreak.

        I'm also curious just how effective Russia's force projection ability is at this point, in terms of their ability to mobilize power within the Syrian theater, or whether they're willing to hit Turkey

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by cusco ( 717999 )

        Russians, Iranians and Syrians. He's still more popular than any of the alternatives among the Syrian people, including refugees. Since he's seen as fighting to defend them from foreign aggression that popularity is likely to continue until Israel finally manages to assassinate him (If they do, they've been trying since 2001).

  • Probably nothing.
    The Syrian/Iranian/Russian response however, that will probably be quite nasty.

  • They used a fucking drone to bomb Turkish civilians having a barbecue. Make your turkey jokes until it's your turn for the drone police.

  • Am I the only one to immediately have remembered this?
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?... [youtube.com]
    One step more?

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