--- description: Moscow’s military might could generate terrorists title: Unguided Russia Bombing of Syria Could Richochet on Putin image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt99eb0fd7781f7989/698866a92dce0133d69e5d9c/screen-shot-2015-10-02-at-10-38-24-am.png?branch=production&width=1920&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Military](/tag/military/) ## Military Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Russia’s Unguided Weapons in Syria Could Ricochet on Moscow by [Mark Thompson](/author/mark-thompson/) ## Mark Thompson Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Oct 2, 2015 3:03 PM CUT  This Russian video appears to show Russian bombs missing their targets. This Russian video appears to show Russian bombs missing their targets.YouTube / Russian MOD by [Mark Thompson](/author/mark-thompson/) ## Mark Thompson Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Oct 2, 2015 3:03 PM CUT The Syrian air force has been bombing anti-government rebels—as well as innocent civilians—with crude barrel bombs that rarely hit their targets. But the arrival of the Russian air force isn’t bringing a big increase in accuracy. Their bombing technology is a generation behind American weapons, and that could end up pinning a target on the back of every Russian soldier in Syria as well as back home. The U.S. has claimed that the Russian air strikes that began this week appear aimed at Syrian rebel forces fighting to topple President Bashar Assad instead of the Islamic State in Syria and Greater Iraq. But they may not be very effective. Video released by the Russians—and U.S. intelligence reports—indicate the bombs being dropped are unguided, and that at least some of them are going astray. That could lead to big problems for the Russians, according to Lieut. General Bob Otto, the Air Force’s deputy chief of staff for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance. “Those aren’t precision weapons,” Otto said Thursday of the Russian bombs. “We can tell what’s hanging off the airplane” via intelligence imagery, he said. They’re “dumb” bombs, guided to their targets only by gravity and the plane’s position and velocity when they’re released. Such weapons are notoriously inaccurate. The U.S. has known for years—especially following hundreds of drones strikes in Pakistan—that ill-aimed weapons can cause more problems than they solve. “We believe if you inadvertently kill innocent men, women and children, then there’s a backlash from that,” Otto said. “We might kill three and create 10 terrorists. It really goes back to the question of are we killing more than were making?” The U.S. and its allies have been using smart bombs against ISIS targets, and won’t attack them unless it believes there is a low chance of civilian casualties. That’s kept the number of bombing missions low, Otto added. The U.S. and its allies have been attacking ISIS targets that “are the most precise in the history of warfare,” Army Colonel Steve Warren said Thursday from Baghdad, where he is a spokesman for the anti-ISIS campaign. “The amount of care that we have taken to preserve civilian life, to preserve civilian infrastructure, is unprecedented.” The Syrians have been using barrel bombs, which are literally barrels crammed with high explosives and shrapnel that cost as little as $200 apiece. They’re the perfect weapon for sowing terror from the skies, and so inaccurate that some international groups argue their use constitutes war crimes. But they’re perfect for an embattled dictator with dwindling weapons stockpiles—and a still-flying air force. Russia’s munitions lag so far behind those of Western militaries because the Soviet Union fell apart at the same time as smart-bomb technologies were taking off. Since the end of the Soviet Union in 1991, the Russian military has invested relatively few rubles in improving the accuracy of their air-delivered weapons, Pentagon officials say. Videos released in recent days by the Russian military appear to show some of their weapons missing their targets. This excerpt, apparently shot from a drone overhead, appears to show cluster bombs—weapons that are designed to wipe out infantry formations—hitting Syrian soil, followed by a volley of larger detonations, most of which seem to miss. Russia has faced Islamic terrorist in the past, largely from Chechen separatists who have killed hundreds with bomb blasts in apartment buildings and market places. The Internet is littered with videos of Muslims killing Russians, and Russians killing Muslims. Moscow’s actions now underway in Syria are likely to add to the collection. ### Go Inside the Frozen Trenches of Eastern Ukraine  Troops belonging to the Ukrainian Army and the Aidar battalion, a volunteer fighting unit, rest in the town of Shastya, Ukraine. Shastya means "happiness." Once a picturesque town of 13,000 in Luhansk Oblast, Shastya has become the frontline between Ukrainian forces and the forces of the breakaway Luhansk People's Republic. Ross McDonnell  Ukrainian soldiers conduct operations along the road in Artemivsk, Ukraine, leading to the embattled town of Debaltseve Feb. 15, 2015\. A ceasefire between Pro-Russian separatists and the Ukrainian forces brokered by the European Union, Russia and Ukraine began at midnight that day. Ross McDonnell  Ukrainian soldiers conduct operations along the road in Artemivsk, Ukraine, Feb.15, 2015. Ross McDonnell  The embattled city of Debaltseve in eastern Ukraine was the site of a massive offensive by rebel forces to wrest it from Ukrainian control. Debaltseve is a strategic town that provides links between Donetsk and Lugansk, the two separatist dominated regions, Feb. 5, 2015. Ross McDonnell  A frontline trench in Shastya, eastern Ukraine, where fighting was ongoing between Ukrainian military and volunteer fighters against the Russian supported forces of the breakaway Luhansk People's Republic, Feb. 8, 2015. Ross McDonnell  Members of the right wing Transcarpathian Sich battalion have taken over a bombed-out mine as their base on the frontline in Pisky, Ukraine, Feb. 10, 2015\. They fire light artillery and machine guns at enemy positions seeking to open up a new flank against the separatists. Ross McDonnell  The view from the trench "Alpinist" at night. A destroyed tank lies on what used to be the main road to Donetsk City. Feb. 8, 2015. Ross McDonnell  Artillery and shelling are constant on the front line in Pisky, Ukraine, Feb. 12, 2015. Ross McDonnell  Fresh graves on the outskirts of the town of Avdiivka, Ukraine, Feb. 9, 2015. Ross McDonnell  Dusk scenes along the front in Pisky, Ukraine, Feb. 10, 2015. Ross McDonnell  A Ukrainian Orthodox priest ministers to a volunteer member of the Aidar Battalion, a volunteer group fighting against Russian separatists in Shastya in the restive region of Luhansk, eastern Ukraine, Feb. 8, 2015.  Shelling ahead of the ceasefire left one boy dead and destruction in the city of Artemivsk, near the embattled of Debaltseva, Feb. 13, 2015. Ross McDonnell  Residents flee after the city of Artemivsk was destroyed by shelling, Feb. 13, 2015. Ross McDonnell  A member of the right wing Transcarpathian Sich Battalion rests in a safe room in Pisky, Ukraine, Feb. 12, 2015. Ross McDonnell  Funeral of seven-year-old Igor Molodetskykh, killed in a shelling by separatist rebels, is held in Artemivsk, Ukraine, Feb. 15, 2015. Ross McDonnell  A resident walks in shock on the streets of Artemivsk after rocket fire left two dead, Ukraine, Feb. 13, 2015. Ross McDonnell  Freezing weather has left food frozen, in Artemivsk, Ukraine, Feb. 15, 2015. Ross McDonnell  Members of the Dnipro-1 battalion play chess in their base in Pisky, Feb. 9, 2015. Ross McDonnell  Members of the Dnipro-1 Battalion live in the basement of a destroyed house in Pisky, with food donated by the Ukrainian public, Feb. 9, 2015. Ross McDonnell  The right wing Transcarpathian Sich battalion has taken over a bombed out mine as its base on the frontline in Pisky. Fighters fire light artillery and machine guns at enemy positions seeking to open up a new flank against the separatists, Feb. 15, 2015. Ross McDonnell  A Ukrainian soldier stares out a bus window as Ukrainian troops withdraw in defeat from the city of Debaltseve, Feb. 19, 2015\. After almost a month of fighting and heavy shelling on the road out of the city, Ukrainian fighters return to the nearby town of Artemivsk. The Minsk 2 ceasefire has been largely ignored with fighting ongoing for the strategic town. 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