'Putins deadly arsenal'

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World's quietest submarine, cruise missiles and smart bombs: The deadly arsenal Putin is using to pound Syria as Russia's awesome firepower drives Isis out of Palmyra

They have been dubbed 'Moscow's war games', a deadly flexing of Russia's military might in the battlegrounds of Syria that has seen Vladimir Putin's forces tip the balance of power towards the once beleaguered leadership of Bashar al-Assad.

For ranged now in the name of Putin's war on terror is an awesome array of firepower, with Russia's iron man president deploying an arsenal of his latest weapons to Syria - operating from land, sea and air.

In the latest major campaign to support Assad, the Russians have helped to drive Islamic State out of the ancient city of Palmyra, inflicting what the army called a 'mortal blow' to militants who seized the city last year and dynamited its ancient temples.

The loss of Palmyra represents one of the biggest setbacks for the ultra-hardline Islamist group since it declared a caliphate in 2014 across large parts of Syria and Iraq.

As Putin's intervention turns the tide of Syria's five-year conflict in Assad's favour, MailOnline spotlights the terrifying arsenal of weapons, armour and warplanes that have become so pivotal to the fate of all sides inside Syria.

BY AIR: Fleet of fighter jets with precision-guided missiles so advanced some are even controlled by the pilot's helmet

While the Russian Command Group and Co-ordination teams are based at their embassy in Damascus, it is their base in the port city of Latakia, north western Syria, which is providing the hub for the air power. Dozens of daily sorties were flown from these headquarters when the campaign was at its height.

Based there is the astonishingly powerful Air Group of Su-34, Su-35S, Su-30SM, Su-24 and Su-25 combat aircraft, the Helicopter Group of Mi-24 and Mi-35 gunships, Mi-8 utility helicopters and the Airlift Contingent of An-124, II-76 and Tu-154 aircraft.

The supersonic Su-24 tactical bomber, Su-25, Su-30 and Su-34 are all equipped with air-to-air and air-to-surface missiles to assist Syrian ground troops and destroy enemy bases.

The KH-29L air-to-surface missile - weighing up to 690kg - is designed to level hardened ground targets including railways, bridges, factories, runways and aircraft in reinforced concrete shelters, according to the Tactical Missiles Corporation.

CRUISE MISSILES: White swan that carries KH-101 and KH-55 cruise missiles

Russia responded to the downing of a passenger jet over Egypt's Sinai province in November by deploying its colossal 24 foot long, two tonne KH-101 cruise missile for the first time.

Carried by a Tu-160 bomber dubbed the 'White Swan', the cruise missile can be fired 6,000 miles from its target, flies as low 30m off the ground to avoid enemy radar, and is said to have an accuracy of between 25m to 30m.

Its astonishing range means the KH-101 could be launched from Moscow to hit an enemy base in Syria.

GUNSHIPS: Helicopters fitted with tank-destroying rockets and cannons

Russia has three helicopter gunships operating in Syria - the Mi-35s, Mi-24Ps and the new generation Mi-28, which is designed to carry out search and destroy missions on tanks and armoured vehicles.

Syrian TV crews filmed what is believed to be an Mi-28 near Humaymin air base in Syria, Russia based Sputnik news reported.

Called the 'Night Hunter' by pilots, the Mi-28 is equipped with 16 tank-destroying missiles, the Shturm and the Ataka, one unguided S-13 rocket and a turreted 2A42 cannon that fires up to 550 30mm shells a minute.

SMART BOMBS: Satellite-guided 'smart missiles' that move at the speed of sound

Syria has been a testing ground for Russia's precision guided bombs.

Its warplanes have deployed the satellite guided KAB-500S to devastating effect on both ISIS and rebel strongholds - and plans to test the smaller KAB-250 in the conflict too.

The state of the art KAB-500, which made its combat debut in Syria in September 2015, is guided by Russia's space based GLONASS global positioning system (GPS).

The missile can be fired from heights of between 500m and 5,000m, and can be moving at the speed of sound when they strike their intended target with an accuracy of between 7m and 12m.

It is designed to destroy munitions depots, factories and ships in dock.

Footage from October showed a Russian Su-34 bomber dropping a KAB-500 on a Syrian rebel group's headquarters.

Another video released by Russia's MoD showed a KAB-500 being used to destroy an ISIS artillery stronghold in Latakia.

BY SEA: Black Sea fleet provides air defence 'umbrella' and boasts quietest submarine in the world

Russia has a Black Sea Fleet of at least ten ships headed by a Slava class guided missile cruiser in eastern Mediterranean waters, which provide logistics and an air defence 'umbrella' over Latakia and Tartus regions.

It includes a diesel electric submarine known as the Rostov-on-Don, which launched Kalibr cruise missiles against targets near the Syrian city of Raqqa, ISIS's de facto capital on November 17.

Commissioned in late December 2014, the submarine is a Project 636 Varshavyanka sub deemed to be one of the quietest in the world.

The stealth submarine is so advanced it is dubbed the 'black hole' because it is so hard to detect. It is the second submarine out of six planned for the Black Sea Fleet by the end of 2016.

It is backed up by Buyan-M class warships - four of which launched a barrage of 26 cruise missiles which blitzed ISIS targets located more than 930 miles away.

Each Buyan-class ship carries eight 3M-54K cruise missiles - known as 'Sizzlers' - which are 27ft long and carry a 450kg warhead.

The missile system is designed to destroy submarines, other 'surface vessels' and 'slow moving targets whose coordinates are known in advance'. The rockets have a range of up to 410miles.

Despite their 'relatively small launch weight of 1,570kg, the rockets can 'blow up very large surface craft,' according to experts at Global Security.

They added: 'The missile's moderate weight allows even warships with a small displacement to take aboard quite a few of such deadly weapons.'

BY LAND: Russian tanks can stop 'any missile in the world' and the 'Grizzly' that can defend attacks from 24 angles

Russia has sent at least 24 T-90 tanks to Syria and this month, they were used to push back the forces opposing Assad around Aleppo.

A local rebel commander told the Turkey-based Yeni Safak website his troops were attacked by more than 80 T-72 and T-90 tanks, although that number has not been verified.

The T-90s are the most advanced tanks in Russia's arsenal and are fitted with an anti-tank missile system that can stop any missile in the world.

When they were first transported to Syria, they were seen as the latest heavy armour by Russia to prop up Assad's forces in the ongoing civil war.

The armoured tank, which costs around £3million each to produce, is made from Kontakt-5 armour, which deflects the true force of the blast over a larger surface area to reduce damage.

It is also armed with a 2A46M cannon which fires 125mm shells, as well as AT-11 missiles that can destroy tanks and low flying helicopters up to three miles away, according to Military Today.

Russia has also deployed SA-17 surface-to-air missiles in an area along the Turkish border known as the Azaz Corridor, a major infiltration route for jihadist and other anti-government forces.

The SA-17, also known as the Grizzly, can engage up to 24 targets flying from any direction at any one time, experts at Army Recognition have said.

It can shoot down strategic and tactical jets, cruise missiles, air launched rockets, guided bombs and helicopters.

The missiles can reach an altitude of 24,000m and have a range of up to 31 miles, depending on conditions.

BY INTERNET: The Krasukha-4 Land Jammer can disrupt radars and even low-flying satellites

The Krasukha-4 jammer is the newest electronic warfare system in the Russian arsenal.

As a broadband multi-functional jamming platform, it could disrupt ground-based radars, airborne radars (especially AWACS systems) and low earth orbit satellites.

The jammer is said to cause permanent damage to targeted radio-electronic devices.

The Russian contingent in Syria is believed to possess a Krasukha-4 platform, which has a reported range of 200-miles.

It is claimed the Krasukha-4 could blind some AWACS planes and make it difficult for NATO to generate the air picture of the eastern Mediterranean and Syria.

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