Russian MOD says Syrian terrorists needed "advanced training" to operate drones used in attack on Russian base

RT
Tue, 09 Jan 2018 17:02 UTC

© Russian Defence Ministry / Ruptly

The Russian Defense Ministry expressed concern over the US claim that drones used in a terrorist attack on a Russian base in Syria could be easily obtained. Such an attack would have required a developed country's help, it said.

Moscow consciously didn't point any fingers when talking about the January 6 attack on Russia's airbase and port facility in Syria, the Tuesday statement said, but added that technology used in the attack was telling.

Advanced training in engineering in "one of the developed countries" would be necessary to program the principal controllers and bomb-release systems of an aircraft-type combat drone, the statement stressed. "Not everyone is also able to get exact [attack] coordinates from the space surveillance data," it added.

The ministry noted that a US Navy Poseidon reconnaissance aircraft was flying over the region between the Russian bases in Latakia and Tartus for some four hours around the time of the drone attack. An earlier Pentagon statement allowed the Russian military to "take a new look at some strange coincidences" surrounding the incident, it said.

The Saturday attack targeted both Khmeimim Airbase and the maritime logistics facility in the city of Tartus, and involved as many as 13 combat drones. The assault was successfully repelled by the Russian anti-aircraft defense systems and electronic warfare specialists.

It was the first time terrorists had used such sophisticated technology in the conflict, the ministry said, adding that the technical assessment showed that the drone could have been obtained "only from a country possessing state-of-the-art technologies."

Earlier on Tuesday, the US said it was "concerned" over the incident. Pentagon spokesman Maj. Adrian Rankin-Galloway, however, claimed that "those devices and technologies can easily be obtained in the open market." He later also told Sputnik that the US already saw what it called "this type of commercial UAV [unmanned aerial vehicle] technology" being used in Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS) missions.

Russia has repeatedly warned that US military supplies aimed at supporting "moderate" Syrian militants eventually end up in the hands of terrorists.

Comment: Some direct quotes from the MOD statement:

"... This forces us to take a fresh look at the strange coincidence that, during the attack of UAV terrorists on Russian military facilities in Syria, the Navy reconnaissance aircraft Poseidon was on patrol over the Mediterranean Sea for more than 4 hours at an altitude of 7 thousand meters, between Tartus and Hmeimim," the ministry said.

After preventing the attack, the Russian military analyzed the design of and ammunition inside the seized UAVs, saying that such drones could have been supplied to the militants only by a country that is capable of "providing satellite navigation and remote control for the dropping of explosive devices." Later in the day, the Pentagon issued a statement saying that such drones could be bought on "the open market."

​Commenting on the Pentagon's statement, the Russian military expressed its concern over the remark that the technologies for attacking Russian military facilities are "easily accessible on the open market."

"What are those technologies that are being talked about?" the ministry asked. A spokesperson also called for the Pentagon to reveal where this market is "located and what special service is selling space reconnaissance data" to militants.

Burn. Where, pray tell, does such a market exist? ISIS may be on its last legs, but that doesn't mean its state sponsorship has ended. Certain people aren't very willing to give up on the project they've invested so much in the hopes of it succeeding.

See also:

• Pentagon: US 'concerned' that ISIS in Syria now using drones against Russians
• Russian military repels militant drone attack on Syrian compounds, attackers may have been aided by "technologically advanced state"