On March 29, TASS news agency quoted former US Marine intelligence officer and former UN weapons inspector Scott Ritter giving sharp assessments of the war situation in the Middle East.
He pointed out that the US Air Force is currently cornered and forced to fly closer to Iranian airspace to drop bombs. This risky move unintentionally puts the F-35s into the target of the enemy's dense air defense firepower.
Analyzing in more depth the causes of the above situation, Mr. Ritter said that the US military has now squeezed out the entire long-range attack weapon stockpile. This serious shortage forces pilots to completely abandon the safe long-range attack tactic. Instead, they must risk their lives to penetrate deep into the radar system of Iran to drop gravity bombs. This tactical retreat has taken away the safety advantage and turned US aircraft into vulnerable targets.
The inevitable consequence is that Iranian air defense forces have begun to use surface-to-air missile systems to respond strongly.
Most notably, Tehran's defense network recorded a historic feat when it first shot down a US military F-35 super fighter.
Assessing the effectiveness of the air strike campaign, US intelligence experts admitted that Washington had successfully destroyed many ground targets but completely failed to weaken Iran's defense industry. Tehran promptly relocated and hid key weapons production facilities.
Forecasting the future of the operation, Mr. Ritter warned that the situation will get worse. The US military elite has fallen into a subjective trap when mistakenly believing that an intervention campaign in Iran would bring a quick and easy victory.
Concluding the analysis, the former US intelligence officer emphasized that the Iranian armed forces have demonstrated an extremely professional fighting style and the ability to integrate advanced military technologies smoothly. This is something that Pentagon officials should have anticipated if they really closely monitored Tehran's progress. However, the reality of the battlefield has revealed the truth that Washington has completely underestimated the defense capabilities of this Middle Eastern nation.
