[afortiori]

Yea, with a 20k, 26,000ft range limit on the SAMs, I was thinking the same thing.

What’s the range on our radar tracking missiles?

[CodeMasterPhilzar]

Google "harm missile range" and the first link pops up "Raytheon AGM-88... 150 Km range..." That tells the story right there.

These guys thought that kind of system could shoot down Israeli pilots? The IAF are some of the best in the world at low level ingress over the desert. What do you think they train for? There are darn few other air forces in the mid-east that could go up and tangle with them air-to-air. So a significant portion of their primary training must be ground attack.

The Syrians needed a top-shelf system, excellent placement strategy, superb training, and tactical freedom. Of course, even with that (as others have pointed out) they are still (relatively) fixed emplacements at the mercy of the attacker. So even with all that, the IAF probably would've gotten the mission done, it just would've been costlier.

[GonzoGOP]

"20k, 26,000ft range limit on the SAMs"

Is is just me or did that WWII vintage B-17 have an altitude limit of 35,000 feet. You hardly need high tech to defeat this system. Those missiles may be fine for tactical use, like preventing your tanks from being strafed, but they are quite useless for protecting a strategic target that can be bombed from altitude.

In contrast the patriot missile, that is intended for strategic rather than tactical defense, has a range of 70km and a maximum altitude of 80,000 feet. Looks to me like the boys in the mosque bought the wrong kind of missile for the job they needed doing. So sad too bad.