a real spanking.

yes, IS's Air Force is in real danger.

of course, IS doesn't have an Air Force, but i'm sure that Russia is just taking sensible steps to ensure that if some IS supporting random were to steal a Jordanian, Israeli or Iraqi F-16 (have you ever tried to steal an F-16..?), Assad faction forces would be able to protect themselves against this obviously very real and current danger.

for those who've not noticed, the above is dripping with sarcasm. the only reason the Assad faction would want additional air defence capability - and, so far in this entirely ground based war, they've never had to use any of their current AD capability - is to attempt to keep the Israelis and Americans/British/French etc out.

IS my hoop, anyone who believe this pump needs to give their head a good shake.

If you think Russia is going to stand by and let isis blow their planes out of the air without consequences, you're dreaming. The defense portion is merely for show.

This is about the anti-aircraft systems, which won't have any ISIS targets. The aircraft in the area that are not allied with Russia are from the countries Ironing Man listed (plus, I'd say, Turkey).

Which I consider very much the topic of this thread. Perhaps you're unaware but we're allowed to stray from the story to give our opinions on the situation. I think both isis and Russia have bitten off more than they can chew here and there are going to be a lot of dead bodies because of it.

i think it appears that you know almost nothing whatsoever about whats happening Syria, who is - and is not - fighting who, and haven't even read, let alone understood, the article you've posted.

next up: Russia sends Torpedoes to Syria to sink IS ships! Russia warns IS that Russia will destroy IS launched communications satelites!

IS has none of those things - nor any aircraft for anti-aircraft missiles to shoot down. so why should Russia send such systems to Syria?

that you're speaking out of your ass. torpedoes in Syria? WTF are you babbling about? Who suggested such a thing (other than yourself)? The air defense systems are OBVIOUSLY going to be to protect Russian planes who WILL be attacking isis and other forces against al assad. Duh. Stop drinking and go to bed before you embarrass yourself further.

i think you have not read the article you posted. or even your posts. anti-aircraft missiles - the missiles in your articles, and your posts - shoot down aircraft. the clue is in the name.

IS does not have any aircraft. so what, genius, could Russia possibly want to supply the Assad faction with anti-aircraft missiles for?

either go to bed, or stop drinking.

make zero sense whatsoever. I'm through wasting my valuable time with you.

It's just conventional military doctrine. I don't know what you are blathering about, Ironing Man, but it doesn't make much sense.

Like Ironing Man pointed out, ISIS has no aircraft for SAM's to be targeting.

*Improvised explosive device, and IS type 'fighters' are pros at use of them.

People have been known to prefer attacking an airforce on the ground. Lots of tightly wound belligerents in the area too.

On the other hand, the notion of a hijacked airliner attacking, say, the Russian base at Tartus seems unlikely, so many other targets will make a bigger terrorist splash.

But the Jet downed in Sinai does indictate the possibility of attacks on Russian assets wherever they might be too. So I suppose that is possible, just unlikely with so many better targets.

And then there are the US jet fighters that just moved to Incirlik, which might be what this is about too.

ANKARA, Turkey — The U.S. military says it has deployed six F-15C jets to Turkey’s southern Incirlik air base to help defend Turkish airspace against potential intruders.

The deployment of the air-to-air combat planes, announced Friday, comes after two Russian warplanes active in Syria strayed into Turkish airspace last month, triggering protests from Turkey and its NATO allies.

The deployment sends a message of NATO’s resolve to protect its members following the Russian warplane’s intrusion.

A U.S.-European command statement said the deployment was in response to Turkey’s request for support in securing its airspace.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/us-deploys-6-f-15-jets-to-turkish-air-base/2015/11/06/379fa7ba-8492-11e5-8bd2-680fff868306_story.html

This is going to be an all out ME war.

Enjoy the cheap gas while we have it folks.

The missile systems are there to tell other air forces to stay out.