Syrian Rebels Are Being Armed With US-Made Anti-Tank Missiles
Some Syrian rebel groups are being armed with advanced American-made antitank missiles in a test run to judge whether the arms end up in the hands of extremist groups in the region, The Wall Street Journal reports.
With Saudi assistance, the U.S. has delivered about a dozen BGM-71 TOW (Tube-launched, Optically-tracked, Wire-guided) missile systems to at least one rebel group.
"To make it clear, our allies are only delivering these missiles to trusted groups that are moderate," one senior leader of rebel group Harakat Hazm told WSJ. "The first step is showing that we can effectively use the TOWs, and hopefully the second one will be using antiaircraft missiles."
The TOW, first introduced in 1970, is a very effective weapon system that can take out tanks, other heavily-armored vehicles, and bunkers. It can be fired in a ground role on a tripod, or mounted to a vehicle.
Read more:
http://www.businessinsider.com/syria-missile-arms-2014-4
This is an interesting development. The best anti-tank missiles can destroy the heaviest armor available globally. The Russian Kornets can penetrate 900 mm of active armor and kill M1 tanks, for example.
Some combination of anti-armor missiles, anti-aircraft missiles, and long range drones that can destroy AWACS and refueling tankers will render obsolete both armored vehicles and manned aircraft.
If widely deployed it may render offensive conventional military operations obsolete.
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