Russian robots on the ground for four-army assault to retake Aleppo - debkaFile

by debkaFile

Russian military intervention since late August has lifted the Syrian army out of its hopeless state and imbued its officers with fresh vigor and the troops with high morale.

 
Argo Mobility Platform combat robot 
 
Russian, Syrian, Iranian and Hizballah troops were taking up positions Monday, Jan. 18, for a massive offensive to retake Aleppo, Syria’s second city. The rebel militias occupying different parts of the city have repulsed all previous assaults.

A victory in Aleppo (prewar population: 1 million) is expected in Moscow, Tehran and Damascus to reverse the tide of the war and force the Syrian rebels to accept that their insurgency is at an end and their only remaining option is to join the peace process initiated by Russia on Syria’s future.

Russian military intervention since late August has lifted the Syrian army out of its hopeless state and imbued its officers with fresh vigor and the troops with high morale. Bashar Assad’s army is not the same largely defeated one of five months ago. Russian air strikes have restored its commander’s confidence in their ability to win. Cutting-edge weapons are reaching combat units with Russian military advisers on hand to teach the Syrian army how to use them, along with exposure to advanced methods of warfare that have been developed by a world-class military.

debkafile’s military sources add that the operational standards of Hizballah and the pro-Iranian Shiite militias fighting alongside the Syrian army have likewise been enhanced by their exposure to Russian tactics.

Those tactics have produced a substantial drop in Hizballah, Iranian and Syrian casualties in battle, contrary to reports of high casualties claimed in the Western mainstream press.

Robots, novel replacements for boots on the ground, recently made their debut appearance in the Syrian arena, our military sources have revealed. They are cast in a star role in the offensive for the recovery of Aleppo.

Heralding a revolution in modern warfare, the Russians are fielding two kinds of robots – the Platform-M combat robot and the Argo Mobility Platform, both heavily armored and capable of functioning day or night in a variety of battlefield conditions. Platform-M gathers intelligence, uncovers fixed and moving targets and destroys them.  It also provides firepower support for forces on the move and secures military installations or routes traveled by the army.  Platform-M is armed with semiautomatic or automatic control firing systems.for destroying enemy targets But extra fire power can be mounted on the system as required.

The Argo is designed for rough-country operations, especially on mountainous or rocky terrain. In recent battles, Syrian rebels were startled to find themselves under sudden heavy fire from the unmanned Russian robots.

Russian General Staff Chief Valery Gerasimov recently spoke of a plan to “completely automate the battle in Syria.” He added, “Perhaps soon we will witness robotic groups independently conducting warfare.” Our military sources comment that this vision is overly futuristic. No totally robotic battlefield exists anywhere in the world today outside sci-fi cinema.


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Source: http://www.debka.com/article/25170/Russian-robots-on-the-ground-for-four-army-assault-to-retake-Aleppo

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