DefenceTalkPresident Vladimir Putin warned Ankara on Tuesday that Turkey’s downing of a Russian warplane on the Syrian border would have “serious consequences” for ties. Speaking at a meeting with Jordanian King Abdullah II in the Black Sea resort of Sochi, a tense-looking Putin branded the shooting down of the aircraft a “stab in the back […]https://www.defencetalk.com/putin-warns-turkey-after-russian-jet-downed-65894/

DefenceTalkMoscow: A map shown by the Russian military on state television appears to show that some Russian artillery contingents could be operating on the ground in central Syria’s Homs region. Russia has servicemen at bases in government-held Syria helping to conduct an air campaign in support of forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad but denies […]https://www.defencetalk.com/russian-army-map-shown-by-tv-suggests-ground-forces-in-syria-65877/

DefenceTalkBrussels: European Union nations on Tuesday unanimously backed a French request for support with military missions in the wake of the Paris attacks, after France invoked a previously unused part of the bloc’s treaties to seek help. France, which launched new airstrikes against Islamic State militants in Syria after Friday’s bloodshed, used a little-known article […]https://www.defencetalk.com/french-military-aid-request-backed-by-eu-after-paris-attacks-65873/

DefenceTalkWashington: Russian warplanes battered the Islamic State stronghold of Raqa in Syria on Tuesday, after giving the United States a “professional” warning of an imminent strike, US officials said. Pentagon press secretary Peter Cook said it was the first time Russia had shared information on “some of their operations” since Moscow began its bombing campaign […]https://www.defencetalk.com/russia-strikes-is-stronghold-raqa-after-warning-us-65870/

DefenceTalkUkraine’s pro-Russian insurgents said Thursday they had withdrawn all of their smaller weapons from a deadly buffer zone in the ex-Soviet state’s separatist east. The reported pullback was in line with a trust-building September 1 pact that has sharply de-escalated the violence and seen just seven Ukrainian soldiers die from enemy fire — about the […]https://www.defencetalk.com/ukraine-rebels-complete-small-arms-withdrawal-65779/

DefenceTalkA top U.S. State Department official says Russia has deployed heavy artillery near the battlefield cities of Homs and Hama, as Moscow deepens its on-the-ground support of the Syrian armed forces’ offensive against rebels. Victoria Nuland, assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian affairs, also said Moscow’s air campaign in Syria was costing between […]https://www.defencetalk.com/us-russia-deploys-heavy-artillery-syrian-battles-65770/

DefenceTalkLondon: Britain should not join air strikes on Syria until there is a clear strategy to defeat the Islamic State group and bring peace to the country, an influential committee of MPs said Tuesday. Prime Minister David Cameron’s government wants to extend Britain’s current involvement in US-led air strikes on targets in Iraq into Syria […]https://www.defencetalk.com/britains-cameron-warned-off-air-strikes-in-syria-65738/

DefenceTalkThe Russian Air Force has being employing a wide spectrum of precision-guided munitions in Syria as part of the operation against the Islamic State (IS) terrorist group banned in Russia, Konstantin Sivkov, Ph.D., writes in the Military Industrial Courier weekly. “The Kh-29 (NATO reporting name: AS-14 Kedge) and Kh-25 (AS-10 Karen) air-to-surface missiles – both […]https://www.defencetalk.com/russian-aircraft-using-wide-range-of-guided-weapons-in-syria-65724/

DefenceTalkBeirut: Russia launched a campaign of air strikes in Syria in support of President Bashar al-Assad on September 30, providing air cover for government offensives in several provinces. One month into the campaign, here are answers to some key questions: Q: Where has Russia carried out raids? A: Russia has conducted air strikes in 10 […]https://www.defencetalk.com/month-into-russias-syria-strikes-what-has-changed-65711/

DefenceTalkPakistan’s military said Thursday it had killed 21 militants in air strikes in a restive northwestern tribal area bordering Afghanistan. The strikes were carried out late Thursday in the Rajgal and Tirah areas of the lawless Khyber tribal district, where Taliban militant and local Islamist groups are active. “Twenty-one terrorists were killed in precise aerial […]https://www.defencetalk.com/pakistani-air-strikes-kill-21-militants-in-northwest-65674/