A decision has been made to supply formidable Russian weapons to Syria
The Russian Federation may soon begin supplying S-300 Favorit anti-aircraft missile systems (SAM) to Syria.
About this, citing his military-diplomatic sources, сообщает Kommersant.
The publication notes that statements about readiness to supply Damascus with S-300 systems were first made a few hours after the US, UK and France carried out a missile and bomb attack on Syria on April 14.
The head of the main operational directorate of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, Sergei Rudskoy, and then the head of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Sergei Lavrov, did not rule out consideration of the issue of supplying the S-300. On the same day, Russian President Vladimir Putin held a meeting with the Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, Valery Gerasimov, and Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, at which, according to an official statement, “certain aspects of the situation in Syria” were discussed.
At the same time, two military-diplomatic sources of Kommersant claim that the issue of transferring the S-300 air defense system to the Syrian army, which was “mainly on the political plane,” has practically been resolved.
It is assumed that the S-300 components (radar stations, transport-loading vehicles, control posts, launchers, etc.) will soon be delivered to the republic either by military transport aircraft or by ships of the Russian Navy.
In 2010, the Syrian Ministry of Defense and the special exporter of Russian weapons Rosoboronexport had already signed a contract for the supply of four divisions of air defense systems in the S-300PMU-2 version, but the implementation of the contract was prevented by the civil war that began in 2011, as well as foreign policy issues - in particular, Israeli concerns, after which the contract was cancelled.
This time, the S-300 is planned to be transferred to Syria as part of the provision of military-technical assistance, since, as the newspaper’s interlocutor in the military-technical sphere says, “the Syrians do not have the money to purchase new systems of this type,” and obtaining a loan is not included in Russia’s plans. Therefore, the supply of used complexes to Syria by the Russian armed forces is most likely.
“Together with the Soviet systems S-125, S-200, Buk, Kvadrat and Osa, they will form the basis of layered Syrian air defense, which will be able to protect not only Damascus, but also a number of military bases from possible attacks by Israel and the US coalition , where Syrian aviation is stationed and Iranian military instructors are located. According to reserve colonel Viktor Murakhovsky, for such tasks it makes sense to transfer at least three to four air defense systems of this type to Syria,” the publication writes.
“After the April strike, Russia had to somehow respond to the United States and its allies, and, apparently, the option with demonstrative support for Bashar al-Assad was chosen,” Ruslan Pukhov, director of the Center for Analysis of Strategies and Technologies, commented on the situation.
In addition, Moscow believes that the deployment of the S-300 in Syria will stabilize the situation and will not allow the Israelis and the US-led coalition to freely destroy civilian and military infrastructure. As noted by the head of the Federation Council Defense Committee, Viktor Bondarev, “the presence of highly effective defensive weapons in the arsenal of any sovereign country will sober up hotheads not only of NATO military officers and generals.”
It will take about three months to train Syrian officers to operate the S-300, and at first there will be Russian military advisers at the sites where the air defense system is deployed, who will have to coordinate the actions of Syrian specialists.
If Israel itself decides to launch missile strikes at the S-300 deployment sites, the consequences, according to the publication’s sources, “will be catastrophic for all parties.”
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