targeting? well, you know, a lot of these systems, lawrence, work extremely well under a part of air defense battalion or tied into commercial radar network. because a commercial airliner flying on a known route at a known altitude, a giant transponder pulse coming out of it, these people didn t know what they were doing. it may have been engaged and literally fired upon by a crew off a self-propelled armor vehicle with these very high-velocity missiles. this missile brings down smart bombs, it shoots down cruise missiles, it brings down enemy aircraft trying to evade is detection. so they didn t know what they were doing to down an airliner in this manner.
these systems, lawrence, work extremely well under a part of air defense battalion or tied into commercial radar network. because a commercial airliner flying at a known route at a known altitude, a giant transponder pulse coming out of it, these people didn t know what they were doing. it may have been engaged and literally fired upon by a crew off a self-propelled armor vehicle with these very high-velocity missiles. this missile brings down smart bombs, it shoots down cruise missiles, it brings down enemy aircraft trying to evade protection. so they didn t know what they were doing to down an airliner in this manner. anthony roman, it seems that our warnings about where the safe routes are are not adequate. as we sit here tonight, it
but there is such a possibility. reporter: but if russia were to expand operations, just how strong is its military? when people say russian military might today, what they re largely referring to is their army. their ground forces. this it is always historically and traditionally been the foundation for the russian military and continues to be so. russia has more than 770,000 troops. another 2 million in reserves. ukraine, 139,000 with just under 1 million in reserves. if russia continues its soviet era style of reliance on troops to hold territory, it s got more than double the number of armor vehicle as ukraine and artillery pieces which give russia the ability to fire at long ranges, also nearly twice as many as ukraine. even if russian troops just stay put in crimea and don t advance into eastern ukraine, they have a critical edge.
era style of reliance on troops to hold territory, it s got more than double the number of armor vehicle as ukraine and artillery pieces which give russia the ability to fire at long ranges, also nearly twice as many as ukraine. even if russian troops just stay put in crimea and don t advance noose eastern ukraine, they have a critical edge. they know the territory. they know the air space and the waters around. that s a huge advantage for the russian military. reporter: the russians have also improved key capabilities since their 2008 military incursion into the republic of georgia when their troops had some trouble communicating. the former president of georgia told outfront he thinks a demonstration of force against moscow might be needed. putin also stop at the entrance of our capital not only by resistance of georgians but huge unity we showed but george
military forces from streets, to stop violence from protesters. they ve been on the ground about 48 hours. their initial statements are so far stunning. the chief monitor of this arab league observer force s sudanese commander. not only a commander but also the former head of foreign intelligence in the government of omar al bashir, a man wanted by the international criminal court for genocide in crimes against humanity. more on that in a moment. today, the head of the arab league team in syria told reuters that, quote, things were calm and there were no clashes in homs, which has for months seen some of the deadliest violence. he went on to say, the situation seems reassuring so far. he also said, some places looked a bit of a mess but there was nothing frightening. nothing frightening. that is not what we have been hearing from people in and around homs for months and it s not what you will hear tonight from a reporter that snuck into that city and returned. the footage he