Just This Once...,
This strike has nothing to do with the Russian air defense system (i.e. operated by the Russian military to protect Russian forces).
I assume that at the Syrian air base that was attacked there were some old Russian systems, but they were operated (and I doubt that they were) by Syrian dumbs with zero effectiveness.
In general, Tomahawks are easy targets for modern IADS unless they come massively in decades and hundreds. Maybe the USN just overestimated capabilities of the Syrians and sent that many CMs? To ground the aviation on such as base, a dozen or two would be enough.
P.S. This was my sarcasm about their in(effectiveness). I studied this stuff in detail since late 70's (at that time - BGM) in a military college.
Last edited by A_Van; 7th Apr 2017 at 09:36.