ISDEI Instituto de Seguridad, Defensa y Estudios Internacionales

Su-35 flanker. Click to see full-size image Turkey could possibly purchase Russian Sukhoi Su-35 fighter jets, if Washington realizes its threat to block the delivery of F-35 joint strike fighters,  Viktor Litovkin, a military analyst with the Moscow-based TASS news agency was cited by RT. “If the US fails to ship the jets to Turkey, Ankara can certainly buy the Su-35s from Russia instead,” he said. Also according to Litovkin, both aircraft have characteristics that are comparable, Moscow also wouldn’t be worried of theft of sensitive military technology, because the aircraft’s software is “hard to crack.” It would also be possibly to easily integrate the fighter jets in the Turkish military. The possible block of the delivery the F-35 joint strike fighters is due to Turkey’s conclusion of a deal for the purchase of Russian S-400, which it says is final. On February 15 th , US President Donald Trump signed  a spending bill  according to which delivery of the jets to Tur

  Dumb Bombs   A recent series of Russian strikes on positions of militant groups in the Syrian province of Idlib has once again caused a wave of mainstream media reports regarding civilian casualties caused by Russian bombings. According to “local activists” quoted by media, the Idlib strikes led to tens of civilian casualties. There are no MSM reports about casualties among members of militant groups or destruction of their infrastructure. Since the very start of the Russian military operation in Syria, Russia has been under fire over its usage of unguided weapons – missiles and bombs – as a main mean of engagement. The key idea repeated by Western diplomats, military officials and media in various formats is the following: While the US-led coalition carries out pinpoint strikes with precision weaponry, the Russian Aerospace Forces employ indiscriminate strikes with unguided bombs, which are oft