This added manoeuvrability means that they can be aimed to destroy an incoming Scud by hitting it at high speed, rather than exploding nearby.A third, much-discussed technological change since 1991 is the development of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), which promise casualty-free reconnaissance missions, and even (from the bomber's point of view) casualty-free bombing runs.
The presence of snipers can keep a road free of bombs, he said.
Refugees have been banned from returning to Ergneti, a village near Tskhinvali, until sappers declare it free of bombs and mines.
It now has only about 200 free-fall bombs, stationed with American and allied aircrews in five countries compared with several thousand Russian warheads.
Another important strategic weapons system is that of long-range heavy bombers, or strategic bombers, which can fly intercontinental distances and drop free-fall bombs or launch cruise missiles, both thermonuclear-armed.
Highly maneuverable and able to carry several types of munitions, including free-fall bombs, it allows Mr. Assad's military to roam above the Syrian countryside, seeking targets beyond the ready reach of its ground units.
Yemen's president, Ali Abdullah Saleh, tells Gen. David Petraeus that he is free to bomb Al Qaeda — as long as Mr. Saleh can say that it was his own forces, not the Americans, striking the militant strongholds.
"We do not need tears or sympathy or even prayers: we desperately need a zone free from bombing over eastern Aleppo to stop the attacks, and international action to ensure Aleppo is never besieged again," the doctors wrote.
The Syrian Air Force's introduction of these weapons raises an obvious question: Why? Syria's military aircraft have been documented dropping several types and weights of well-known Russian-made air-delivered ordnance, including unguided free-fall bombs and Soviet-era canisters containing cluster bombs.
Robert Hewson, a specialist in air-launched weapons at IHS Jane's, noted that the pylons on the Mi-8 and Mi-17 helicopters can be fitted with many of the same Russian-made weapons carried by the Mi-25, including one of the most powerful pieces of ordnance that have been verified thus far in the conflict: 550-pound OFAB free-fall bombs.
