OPINION - Russia May Supply S-300 Air Defense Systems To Syria In 2-3 Months, If Decision Made

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 23rd September, 2018) Moscow may supply Damascus with S-300 anti-aircraft missile systems in two to three months, if an appropriate decision is made, but if Russia does so, it is necessary to upgrade the entire air defense of Syria, editor-in-chief of Russia's Arsenal Otechestva magazine, Viktor Murakhovsky, told reporters.

The Russian Il-20 military aircraft, which was 22 miles off the Syrian coast, was shot down on September 17, while returning to the Hmeimim airbase. At the same time, four Israeli F-16 aircraft were bombing Syrian targets in the province of Latakia. According to the Russian Defense Ministry, Israel notified Russia of the airstrikes only a minute before their start. The ministry said that the Israeli pilots used the Russian aircraft as a shield against Syrian air defense systems. As a result, the Il-20 jet was downed by a missile launched by Syria's S-200 air defense system. The incident claimed the lives of 15 Russian servicemen.

The expert recalled that in 2010, when an agreement was reached between Syria and Russia on the delivery of S-300 systems to Damascus, Israel expressed its concern and asked Moscow not to do so.

"Israel figured it out, [imaginary] put the S-300s in place of S-200s [in Syria], and said: 'Dear Russian Federation, it turns out that the Syrians will have the S-300 systems operational range to cover almost the entire territory of Israel. Aircraft of the Israeli Air Force will be in danger of being shot by Syria just after take-off. This does not suit us, we express our deep concern, and urge you not to fulfill this contract," Murakhovsky said.

He clarified that Russia then did Israel a favor, although it damaged Moscow's reputation as a partner in defense industry cooperation.

"We gave way, stopped fulfilling obligations, gave back $400 million to Syria, which already were paid to us. Our reputation was damaged. After all, some countries wanted to buy these systems from us, and after this case they thought, if a third country asks, then Russia may not deliver them," the expert said.

In Murakhovsky's opinion, it is necessary to leave this situation behind, given Israel's recent provocative actions.

"The Russian army has been massively equipping its regiments with three sets of the S-400 each, so the S-300PMU2 systems go to our reserve and storage bases. That is, if we resume that contract, I think that we can supply the Syrians with these systems in two to three months," the military expert said.

He explained that in order to quickly supply the Syrians with S-300 systems, Russia needs to check their technical condition and change the system of state recognition to the export option, as well as train the Syrian servicemen.

"It will take at least two to three months. It is necessary to carry out acceptance testing at the Ashuluk range. Only after this it will be possible to say that these systems are combat-ready," Murakhovsky specified.

Commenting on the possible actions of Israel after the delivery of the S-300s to Damascus, the expert said that the deployment of these systems in Syria may entail attempts by Israel to destroy them.

"This decision is possible, so I think this will lead to heavy air-to-air combat, sharply escalating the conflict. In my opinion, it is necessary to update the whole Syrian air defense system.

It is necessary to delivery there Tor-M2 systems, which will cover the S-300s from high-precision air-to-surface weapons. It is necessary to supply an automated control system for air defense of the new generation. We need to delivery the Buk system, which has outstanding specifications and it is necessary to teach people accordingly," he explained, adding that in February the Tor-M2 was already installed on Hmeimim airbase, and it works great.

At present, the Syrian air defense is armed with S-200 systems, Murakhovsky said.

"This is a long-range system, in fact it is immobile. The air defense envelope is up to 200 kilometers [124 miles], and for some types of targets - up to 240 kilometers. We can say that this is an analogous-generation system. There are no phased arrays, there is no digital ballistic and en-route radar channels, everything is vintage, old-school style. According to modern standards, it is very outdated. It is very problematic for them to destroy the modern machines made in late 1980s, although they [the Syrians] managed to do it," the expert explained.

The S-300 is a system of an absolutely new generation, Murakhovsky stressed.

"It is mobile. If you look at the same Google maps, then all the Syrian positions of the S-200 are visible as in the palm of your hand, they have been on these maps for decades. The S-300 is able to move fast, and can turn on the firing position, which will no longer be known to the enemy, within five minutes," he said.

The second difference is the reconnaissance radars of a new generation.

"These are phased antenna arrays, fire control radars, all-altitude target detectors, etc. For example, the S-200 can fire at the target, targeting up to six missiles at the same time, and the S-300PMU2 can fire at 36 targets with 72 missiles. It can detect about 300 targets at the same time, follow and tie routes, thus allowing for firing at 100 targets," the expert explained.

The third advantage is a new 48N6E family missile with an access range of about 200 kilometers.

"It is solid-fuel missile that does not require maintenance for its entire lifetime. If you recall the missile of the S-200, it is liquid-fueled, requiring control after a certain time of refueling, as high-boiling components of liquid fuel are extremely poisonous. It is a device, which actually require control over putting a missile from the battery to the launcher. The amount of operational work on a liquid-fueled missile is incomparably greater than that of the one used by a S-300 system," Murakhovsky said.

According to the expert, the decision support system of the S-300 system offers the commander of the battalion and the operators of the launchers several options for choosing targets, for the order of their defeat, for the type of missile to destroy them, and so on.

"In addition, although for Syria this is not very relevant, but the S-300 system has a 48N6E2 missile, which is optimized for ballistic purposes. Incidentally, this family of missiles has already transferred to the S-400 system and can be used by it along with other types of missiles. These products are very successful and as a whole the system turned out extremely successful. Not for nothing did it survive so many updates and upgrades," Murakhovsky concluded.