Russia Deploys Warship Off Syrian Coast To "Destroy Any Threats To Russian Planes"

a reply to: stormcell

And as I said, any move by Russia to engage targets that pose a "threat" (as ambiguous a term that is) would be foolish. The limited amount of Russia forces in Syria and the region would last all of 5 minutes if the Turks retaliated after being fired upon for "being a threat".

Beyond that, there is little Russia can do. It's Black Sea Fleet would be holed up, unable to get through the Bosporus and it has limited scope for air strikes over Turkey itself, if at all. Land forces wise they don't have a hope in hell of doing anything meaningful.

You can harp on about a "chess game" all you like, but your ignoring the fact that the game is lopsided. Russia may have moved "a knight", but Turkey has dozens of pieces to counter it.

originally posted by: all2human
a reply to: stumason
Turkish fighter jets and ground forces in/over Syria are fair game

And the small Russian contingent in that scenario would be sent home in body bags.

What, exactly, do you think Russia can do to Turkey outside economic sanctions?

Nothing, is the answer.

Your talking about the 2nd largest military on the planet

a reply to: all2human

What, Russia? Hardly. Most of their Army is piss poor conscripts and border guards. Their Navy is largely decrepit and their air force leaves a lot to be desired.

Checking active service personal shows the Russian army is in fact only the 8th largest and only marginally larger than Turkeys

If Turkey Blitzed Syria, yes it is capable of wiping out the Russian airbases and offshore ships
it would be hardly worth it, Turkey would risk becoming ostracized internationally
Russia is now spread out across Syria and embedded with Syrian forces, Turkey could quickly find itself stuck in the mud
alone to endure Russian, Syrian, Iranian and Iraqi backlash and probably falling to local revolt, horrible to imagine really.
The answer to the region is not more bloodshed, has worked zero times before.