{"id":34135,"date":"2018-08-27T17:53:32","date_gmt":"2018-08-27T17:53:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2018\/08\/27\/how-the-us-has-learned-a-lot-about-russian-capabilities-in-syria\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T22:42:06","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T22:42:06","slug":"how-the-us-has-learned-a-lot-about-russian-capabilities-in-syria","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/air\/2018\/08\/27\/how-the-us-has-learned-a-lot-about-russian-capabilities-in-syria\/","title":{"rendered":"How the US has \u2018learned a lot\u2019 about Russian capabilities in Syria"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

WASHINGTON \u2014 As Russian and American forces have settled into Syria, analysts and experts have noticed a clear pattern from the Russian forces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Moscow is using Syria as both a test bed for its newest capabilities and as an opportunity to see American equipment such as the F-22 fighter jet up close. It\u2019s a development that has raised concerns that Moscow may be gaining a military edge over the U.S. from its experiences in the region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The good news for America\u2019s military? It\u2019s doing the same thing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCertainly, we\u2019ve learned a lot about some of the capabilities that the Russians have brought to Syria,\u201d Lt. Gen. Jeffrey Harrigian, the outgoing head of U.S. Air Forces Central Command, has told Defense News. \u201cCould we have learned more? There are probably some areas out there that we need to make sure we watch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe are a learning organization. I won\u2019t go into all the details but there were things that we knew we had to take advantage of, and ensure, feed that back [to] not only the intel community but back into those systems that we needed to improve.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\t