Russia allegedly gives Syria green light to use S-300 system against Israeli warplanes

Al-Masdar News ^ | 9/18/2019 | News Desk

[Zhang Fei]

BEIRUT, LEBANON (2:00 P.M.) – The Russian Armed Forces have allegedly given the Syrian military the green light to use their S-300 system against Israeli warplanes that enter their airspace, the Russian aviation publication Avia.Pro reported.

“Against the background of how Israel was repeatedly seen striking at Syria despite the previously reached agreements between Russia and Israel, a source told Avia.pro that the Syrian military received permission to use its air defense systems in case of the slightest threat from Israel, provided that the Syrian side bears responsibility for such actions,” Avia.Pro said.

Despite completing the installation of their S-300 batteries in the Masyaf area of Hama this year, the Syrian Armed Forces have yet to use these air defense systems against the Israeli warplanes that have repeatedly bombed the country.

However, based on what Avia.Pro has reported, the Syrian Armed Forces appear to be reliant on the Russian military to use these air defense systems against the Israeli Air Force jets that violate their airspace.

“Russia allowed the Syrian military to put the S-300 on full alert and attack Israeli aircraft in the event of the slightest threat,” a military source told Avia.Pro.

The effectiveness of the S-300 against the Israeli Air Force has been in question since its installation, as the latter has carried out attacks as far east as the Deir Ezzor Governorate and as far north as Aleppo.

[Zhang Fei]

Syrian government outlet puts the credibility of the S-300 system (and possibly its sibling, the S-400) on the line. Will Israeli warplanes now start falling from the sky? Will Russian S-300 operators assigned to Syria start returning in body bags? Stay tuned.

[NorthMountain]

Did the Syrians get the real S300/S400, or the monkey model?

[Track9]

That just qualifies them as really good targets.

[AlaskaErik]

Now the world once more gets to see how poorly Russian military equipment performs. You’d think they’d have learned their lesson by now.

[Ingtar]

I suspect the Russians are looking for excuses, not results.

[Zhang Fei]

[Did the Syrians get the real S300/S400, or the monkey model?]

---

May not make much of a difference. Once the electronics, software and materials revolutions got under way, anything military that doesn’t primarily involve lots of steel in its production has bifurcated. There’s the far superior Western gear and the far inferior Russian version. Russian gear has great specs. Problem is the performance almost never lives up to those specs. Whereas Western gear generally outperforms published specs, to provide a margin of error for the operator, in extremis.

[gr8eman]

A few months back a missile from a S-300 launched in Syria (supposedly launched at an Israeli jet) blew up over Cyprus. Look at the map. I’m quite sure the system is designed so if a missile misses its tracked target it detonates as to prevent that from happening. It was a bigger fail than most people realize.

[doorgunner69]

Good opportunity to get some nice emission signature captures. The waveform data should be quite useful.

[oldplayer]

Approximately 25 fixed-wing aircraft were lost in the Iraq war. There has been more than a decade of improvements made in missile technology. They are deadly.

Anti-missile defenses have also been improved.

The question remains as to whether the offense or the defense has made the most strides. It will be a dangerous experiment for the players on each side.

[Magnum44]

[Zhang Fei]

[The question remains as to whether the offense or the defense has made the most strides. It will be a dangerous experiment for the players on each side.]

---

In an era of smart weapons, the offense will always have the advantage. Warplanes can go right to the edge of the system’s effective range and drop cruise missiles with cluster bomb submunitions to whack the radars. Then there’s the low flying terrain hugging kamikaze drones. This ain’t WWII, when you have to fly directly over the target and line it up in your Norden bombsight. And then there’s this:

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-israel-greece/israel-trained-against-russian-made-air-defense-system-in-greece-sources-idUSKBN0TN10G20151204

[Zhang Fei]

[Approximately 25 fixed-wing aircraft were lost in the Iraq war. There has been more than a decade of improvements made in missile technology. They are deadly.]

---

Re the losses, not one was shot down by one of the big Russian SAM systems. Friendly fire, mechanical issues, golden BB’s, et al.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_aviation_shootdowns_and_accidents_during_the_Iraq_War#Fixed-wing_aircraft

[NorthMountain]

List of aviation losses during the Iraq war 2003-2010. You might find it interesting.

[NorthMountain]

heh … you got there first.

[ETCM]

Approximately 25 fixed-wing aircraft were lost in the Iraq war ... They are deadly.

Key word "lost". Very few to enemy SAMs. Most were crashes, friendly fire, etc. Of course, they didn't face anything like the S300. But then, defeating air defenses is about tactics, planning and intelligence. Also, I don't believe for a minute that the S300 system has been held back all this time. Sounds more like making excuses for poor performance.

[Mariner]

“There’s the far superior Western gear and the far inferior Russian version. “

And then there’s the Chinese version, which doesn’t even live up to the Russian version.

[FreedomNotSafety]

You makes your money on replacement parts and upgrades.

[fatman6502002]

I suspect we’re going to see a lot of crappy Russian SAM systems being taken out by Israeli F-35’s.

[fatman6502002]

That’s true. I used to work combat systems for AIRPAC and the SM (15 years ago) series missiles would self destruct after losing a target. After launch they 3 seconds (if my memory is correct) to establish a data link with the ship, if it didn’t, it would self destruct.

[PapaBear3625]

Will Israeli warplanes now start falling from the sky? Will Russian S-300 operators assigned to Syria start returning in body bags?

Or maybe Israel will just stay out of Syrian airspace.