If Israel Air Force somehow came to blows with Russian Air Force over Syria, how well would they fare?
Well the Russians have 1 small air base with about 30 planes and no hardened shelters. I haven't seen much reported about air defences though there will be some, whether operated by Syrians or Russians. There is probably no CAP given the lack of rebel Air Force and so if an incident occurred the base would be toast. It is also well out on a limb as the only effective support that Russia could provide would be cruise missile strikes from the Caspian based on increasingly dated information. If it escalated then Turkey as a member of NATO may invoke the 1982 amendment to the Montreux convention which would block access-egress from the Black Sea and mean anything happening in Syria would have to be surported from Murmansk or St Petersburg. That would be a huge humiliation for Russia and consequently something that would be worth avoiding. Realistically there would not be much they could do. Overflight from Iran through Iraq???? Tactical nuke? The one escalates further into losing hand. The other delegitimises Russia for decades and strips it of all authority, probably including its Security Council seat etc. Would the IAF do this? They've got the ability. They just need a few bombs on target and to wait 6 hours for clear skies. But without lots of provocation it's hard to see them going this far - though it could lead to a rapid settlement in Syria....
What percentage of Syrian Air Force pilots are Alawites?
The vast majority of them is Alawite. The only reason why not all of them are so is that flying a jet fighter needs tremendous skills.Assad regime doesn't allow any Sunni to fly a jet fighter unless he is totally involved in shame with proven history of betraying his kind. Plus his neck must be chained with his complete family members, branches, friends and even neighbours right under the regime cannon barrels.Thus you can easily count the Sunnis among the regime pilots by the fingers of one hand.In general, in Assad army, when it comes to those who're in real control, aka the real commanders of the army, they are all 100% Alawites with no exception.As for those who carry guns in the front lines of the battlefields nowadays, none of them is Alawite. They are not Sunni either. They belong to the Iranian cast of Shiite Muslims. This includes the terrorist thugs of Hizbollah along with more than 50 other militias coming mostly from Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Yemen.Those who try to troll you with the “civilised” masks of living in the 2017 are particularly the ones trying to cover up the sectarian nature of Assad regime and the militias that support him.
Israel vs Syria,who would win in a fair war?
LOL very easily Israel would win, no question about it. Im Iranian myself. I think if Israel attacked Iran it would be a different story. Both countries would cause alot of distruction to each other. However Israel has much better and more modern up to date military hardware so most of its damage would come from its air force which is undoubtatly far more superior than that of Iran's. However Iran would send thousands of missiles over and attack via hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Palestine. It would also attack via syrian land. I hope Israel never underestimates Iran, because to be honest i do not want to see another war in the middle east.
Why doesn't Syrian fighter jets intercept Israeli Air Force strikes over Syria?
The “batting average” for F-15s in air to air combat is something around 102–0–0, where a disproportionate number of those 102 air to air kills were Syrian aircraft that had the audacity to fly into airspace being defended by Israeli F-15s!The numbers are a testament to Syrian heroism. The lesson to be learned was quite simple.This time, the Syrians were smart enough not to stroll through wolf country with a T-bone steak hanging around their necks! When these Israeli strikers were out there performing their missions, I’m very certain, as apparently were the Syrians, that there were some very hungry, wild eyed and drooling wolves afoot. The Syrians stayed on the ground and the Eagles scorecard did not change!
Turkish F-16's vs Syrian Mig-25's?
The winner in all dogfights is determined by the pilot and luck. As for the pros to each aircraft- The MiG-25 can fly faster and higher than an F-16 mach 2 vs mach 3 and 90,000 ft vs 50,000 ft. the MiG-25 is a bit of a led sled when it comes to turning. I'm not sure how up to date the avionics are on a syrian MiG-25 but if a MiG-25 pilot can keep his speed up and altitude up and fire a pair of R-40T heat seeking missiles bvr- he would take the F-16 easily. If he has to drop his speed and altitude- to keep a lock on the F-16 and thus enters the F-16's flight envelope. The F-16 would fly rings around him and have little problems hitting the MiG-25 with an AMRAAM. The MiG-25 was designed lob missiles at Mach 3. The design was built with the intent of catching the SR-71 something it was to slow to do. However the Russians still expected it to engage in hit and run attacks against other aircraft. the MiG-25 started being retired in Russian service in the 1980's and replaces with the MiG-31 which is kinda like an MiG-25 upgraded with an F-14's radar and phoenix missiles. the MiG you would want to go up against an F-16 in would be a MiG-29. those two planes are a really close match.
Why does Bashar Al Assad need help from Russian Air Force in Syrian Civil War in spite of having his Syrian Air Force?
Syria has been in constant war since 2012 now the army and air force is depleted. They never had one of the world's most powerful armies and first they fought the FSA now ISIS. They do not have the firepower or financial resources to run a bombing campaign but good Ole russia does. Russia being one of the world's most powerful countries and military powers and syria's biggest ally was perfect for this task of a large bombing campaign. They are also quite close to syria geographically so that is not an issue such as it is for the americans who have to use outside bases or aircraft carrives but russia can use bases in their lands.
The Syrians have lost which piece of territory to the Israelis?
The Golan Heights - in the 1967 Six Day war.