Comments by "peabase" (@peabase) on "US says it is ‘locked and loaded’ for more airstrikes if Syria uses more chemical weapons | ITV News" video.

  1. stuipidlamb, the Syrian army launched their missiles blind in the hope that they would pick up a cruise missile in flight. It served to keep up morale, but the military value of such tactic is entirely theoretical.
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  2. ALX, the blindly-fired missiles would be the rifles in your analogy. Missiles that rely on an on-board homing system alone have a very narrow detection cone. According to eyewitnesses, the Syrian AA missiles zig-zagged, which is a last-ditch effort to locate a target, but it's rather like trying to find the quail in your analogy by peering through a toilet paper tube. I think the Syrians knew they weren't going to hit anything, but they decided to make a good show of it anyway.
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  3. ALX, I'd rather not get into a politically-biased conversation about whose credibility trumps whose. Suffice it to say, Russia pays scant regard to the truth, while the US makes an effort. Let's just concentrate on weapons capabilities, shall we? Ships have what is called point air defence. Rather than try to cover a large area, they defend against aerial threats in their immediate vicinity with short-range missiles and CIWS -- typically for self-defence purposes only. Assad's forces have something similar in the Pantsir, but they can't possibly place one next to each conceivable target. BTW, the Pantsir doesn't fire its missiles blindly either since they lack a homing system of their own. No blind volleys, in other words.
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