According to the TASS, Russia has completed the delivery of an S-300 surface-to-air missile system to the Syrian military in defiance of Israeli and US concerns.
Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu told President Vladimir Putin during a meeting broadcast by Rossiya 24 TV: “The work was finished a day ago,” adding that the system would improve the security of Russian military personal in Syria.
Israel, in turn, said that the arms sale would embolden and escalate the Syrian war.
Last week, an Israeli official said that the S-300 anti-aircraft missiles are “a complicated challenge” for Israel. The official added: “We’re dealing with it in different ways, not necessarily by preventing the delivery.”
Earlier, in April this year, Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman was pretty clear about that country may strike the Russian-made S-300 anti-aircraft defense systems in Syria if they are used against Israel.
“One thing should be clear – if someone fires on our planes, we will destroy them,” Lieberman said in an interview with the Israeli website Ynet. “What’s important to us is that the weapons defense systems that the Russians transfer to Syria are not used against us. If they are used against us, we will act against them.”
Israel has repeatedly hit targets in Syria in recent years, most recently earlier this month in Latakia province when Syrian military shot down a Russian military reconnaissance plane, killing all 15 people on board. In addition, the Israeli Air Force has long been preparing to destroy targets such as the S-300, but before that it was assumed that these would be Iranian air defense systems.
Since 2000, Israel has been annual discreetly training and testing maneuvers designed to defeat missile systems Russia has deployed in the Middle East. The Israeli Air Force has used jointly military exercises with Greece and Bulgaria to prepare for a potential situation where it will have to perform missions against the S-300 surface-to-air missile system.
According to the i24news.tv, the exercises were used to test how the S-300 system locks onto targets, gather data on its tracking radar and to see if the system could be blinded or tricked.
The Aviationist also noted that thanks to the exercise in Greece, the Israeli Air Force has gathered important data about the Russian SAM system and had the opportunity to test and improve evasion tactics during simulated attacks against ground targets protected by S-300 batteries.
In addition, Israel received more F-35 Adir stealth fighter jets that have an extremely low radar signature allowing the jet to operate undetected deep inside enemy territory as well as evade advanced missile defense systems like the advanced Russian-made S-300 and S-400 missile defense system.
Israeli determination and their inventiveness made it possible to hit Russian S-300 missile systems in Syria