I would argue, in the beginning and even now SAA has the firepower to easily overpower any of their rivals. But what the SAA lacks is a Disciplined and Trained Officer Core, to lead the men in battle in an organized way. The tactics and operational plans of the SAA are incompetent at best. They keep making same blunders over and over again, you need to be an exceptional moron to keep making the same mistake not just once but multiple times. Under the present scenario, replace SAA Officers from those either from Turkey, India or Pakistan, and just watch the tide of the war turn. Incompetent Officers lead to disorganized training, attacks and maneuvering. The only maneuvering or turning i have seen from the SAA side is after Russians came. Before that, they were charging their Armour out in the open fields without any infantry support.
The only three sides that have impressed me during the war was ISIS before Kobani, Al Nusra to some extent and definitely Hezbollah. Hezbollah although small in numbers has clearly demonstrated that well trained soldiers will always win the day. Another thing, being innovative and learning from your mistakes. Hezbollah's tactics of using crack soldiers on fast bikes to attack the enemy ATGM positions up close before the Armour Advances is one of those innovations. Simple, but deadly effective.
