Supreme Allied Commander Europe, Gen. Philip M. Breedlove, said recent Russian activities in Syria has lead to “another A2/AD bubble being created in the eastern Mediterranean.”
![syria-latakia-airbase-satellite-sept-20-092115-b[1]](http://alert5.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/syria-latakia-airbase-satellite-sept-20-092115-b1.jpg)
“These very sophisticated air defense capabilities are not about [the Islamic State], they’re about something else,” said the former commander of U.S. Air Forces Europe. “High on Mr. Putin’s list in Syria is preserving the regime against those that are putting pressure on the regime and against those that they see who might be supporting those putting pressure on the regime.”
The other zone in the Mediterranean is centered around Russian-occupied Crimea.
“Russia has developed a very strong A2/AD capability in the Black Sea,” said Breedlove. “Essentially their [anti-ship] cruise missiles range the entire Black Sea, and their air defense missiles range about 40 to 50 percent of the Black Sea.”