An Artilleryman's View of the Battlefield

[Lys]

Marina shared this with me on Saturday with the words, "The artillerist's perspective on the open field battle, rare enough to see in the modern world it's worth taking your time to watch closely."

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The video shows Syrian Arab Army artillery atop Mount Zayn al-Abdeen (directly north of Hama), shelling rebel positions around Maardes and Suran, probably the Free Syrian Army. It's undated, but it can't have been more than a few days old at the time it was uploaded. Highlights include a panoramic view of the battlefield, the guns being fired, and rocket barrages flying toward their targets and detonating starting at the 1:45 mark.

It's interesting that they placed their artillery atop the mountain. If it had been the US Army they would have put the tubes behind it in order to impede counter-battery fire, and used forward observers on top of it for targeting and shot correction. Very likely the SAA simply lacks the kind of training and doctrine to do that, so they're forced to rely on the artillerists spotting their own shells like it's the 19th fucking century. Still, it seems like the guns atop Mount Zayn al-Abdeen have played a decisive role in this battle. Once again showing the importance of properly used and placed of artillery.

Also, i find it pretty cool how the modern day lets you watch a battle almost as it is unfolding. For an overview of combat operations in this sector see:

Initial offensive by Anti-Government forces (4:33)
Counter-Offensive by Government forces (3:22)

Important Note: Oz Analysis is extremely and unashamedly pro-Assad. While his tactical and operational analysis appear to be decent enough, when it comes to strategic and geopolitical matters he's as worthless as he is partisan. Do not watch the two battle overview videos if you have no patience for that.

[LadyTevar]

Artillery on top of a mountain is a aircraft's fish barrel

[Lys]

Fortunately for the artillerymen, the Free Syrian Army has no air support. The Syrian Arab Air Forces largely stayed loyal to Assad, not that there's much of them left these days. The Russians are of course also backing Assad, so they're bombing his enemies. The USAF is mostly concerned with bombing Daesh, and only occasionally engages in desultory punitive strikes against Government forces. Finally the Turkish Air Force mainly bombs Daesh and the Kurds. This also means there's basically no air to air battles in Syria, since for the most part people with air forces are attacking people without them. The rare exception being the Americans bombing Assad's shit, in which case what's left of the Syrian Air Force knows better than to try to contest American air superiority.

[frigidmagi]

There was a brief non-shooting confrontation last year when the Russians tried bombing the Kurds between them and the US air force.

[Lys]

Oz Analysis update on the fighting in Northern Hama, if anyone's interested. Previous disclaimers about biases still apply. The short version is all gains by FSA and allies have been reversed, and the FAA may be gearing up to launch a counter-offensive.

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[frigidmagi]

The Free Syria Army has been running out of gas for the last 2 years honestly. The Kurdish led Syrian Democratic Forces has poached alot of their more professional militas and others have defected to ISIS or Al'Nursa, plus they got hit harder by the Russians then most. I kinda find myself surprised from time to time that they're still a going concern.

[Lys]

Well in a sense the Free Syrian Army isn't a going concern, not in the same way it was early in the war. There is no command structure, no leadership, no organization, no nothing. All that shit had collapsed by like, the end 2014. These days the FSA consists of whatever formations remain that don't identify as Islamist (there's still a few), and those Islamist groups who decided to try for some of that sweet Western military aid. Oh plus a number of Turkish backed groups of various descriptions who've been getting a lot of Turkish materiel over the past year or so. As a consequence there will always be someone calling themselves FSA. Even if the entire Northern Hama salient collapses, all it will mean is that the FSA-identified groups in that sector will be annihilated, while the FSA-identified groups elsewhere will continue unaffected. Also both Ahrar Al-Sham and Tahrir al-Sham are participating in the battle, so the losses are being spread around.

[frigidmagi]

You think the non-Islamic formations would join everyone else in the SDF, that is where most of the western aide is going. Can't be helped I suppose