Latest imagery shows 28 Russian combat planes on the ground in Syria

A satellite image has finally unveiled the whole Russian Air Force contingent made of 28 combat planes deployed to Syria: taken on Sept. 21, the photograph shows 4 Su-30SMs, 12 Su-25SMs and 12 Su-24s lined up, in the open air, along runway 17L at al-Assad International Airport, near Latakia, in western Syria.

Whether the aircraft will remain at Latakia (where no hardened shelters have been built yet) or will move somewhere else is unclear. For the moment, they are expected to launch the first sorties from Latakia quite soon.

Based on the couple of videos emerged so far, it seems quite likely that the 28 aircraft deployed to Syria in four-ship formations led by Il-76s, Il-78s and (maybe) An-124 airlifters, in radio silence and shadowing the accompanying cargo/tanker planes to remain “stealth” to radars along the route.

Copyright CNES 2015, Distribution Airbus DS

SEE ALSO: These are the attack planes Russia is sending to Syria

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: 11 game-changing military planes from the last 15 years