For Putin, one of his most important priorities has been modernizing the military to show that Russia is a player on the world stage again. Russia stood on the sidelines as the United States led military interventions in Iraq and the former Yugoslavia. Many Russians felt humiliated after the Soviet Union fell apart in 1991 and lost its superpower status. There were also domestic political reasons for the Syrian operation. Trying out new arms was just a bonus.Īs cynical as it may sound, Golts said, combat is the best way for any military to test the condition of its weaponry. "There were two main goals: to force the West to talk with Russia and break the isolation from the Ukrainian crisis, and secondly, to support Syrian President Bashar Assad," said Aleksandr Golts, a fellow at the Kennan Institute in Washington. And the country's only aircraft carrier, the Admiral Kuznetsov, traveled all the way from the Arctic Ocean to the Syrian coast to launch airstrikes. The air force sent long-range Bear and Backfire bombers on round-trip missions from bases in Russia. Shortly after Russia entered the conflict in September 2015, the country's navy fired cruise missiles at Syrian targets 900 miles away – an event that coincided with President Vladimir Putin's 63rd birthday. The Kremlin has never made a secret that its intervention on behalf of the Syrian government has been an excellent opportunity to show off its new military prowess. Only 10 weapons systems performed below expectations, he added.
"We tested 162 types of contemporary and modernized weapons in Syria, which showed a high level of effectiveness," Shoigu said. 23 national holiday was once known as Soviet Army and Navy Day, and Shoigu, dressed in the uniform of a general, came to boast about the Russian military's latest achievements. Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu made his way to the Duma, the lower house of parliament, on the eve of Defender of the Fatherland Day. Host Photo Agency /RIA Novosti via Getty Images
The Bear bomber is among the weapons Russia has used in Syria. An Ilyushin Il-78 Midas air force tanker and a Tupolev Tu-95MS Bear strategic bomber flew during a military parade in 2015 in Moscow.
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