West admitted: S-300 put an end to air raids in Syria
After a rather short period of gloating over the “rout” of Russian-made air defense systems by the IDF in Syria, the time has come for more balanced assessments and a real understanding of the situation. And now the West is forced to admit that even the very possibility of using Russian S-300 air defense systems in this theater of operations has turned for the Israeli "aces" into an insurmountable barrier to further actions.
The American portal The National Interest, in truth, is impossible to even suspect of sympathy for Russia, its army and military-industrial complex - they are periodically posted there not only derogatory, but directly boorish materials. However, an article of a completely different kind was recently published there. Its author, Mark Episkopos, is forced to make an unambiguous conclusion: IDF pilots no longer risk flying over Syria “like at home,” and even bombard any targets on its territory at their own discretion with bombs and missiles. And the reason for this has an unambiguous and short name: S-300. The Israelis had a clear awareness of the sad fact: the next flight is likely to be the last. The Russians no longer intend to tolerate their air terrorism.
As a confirmation of this thesis, NI publishes photographs taken with the help of the Israeli tracking satellite Eros-B and which led IDF analysts to the most nasty mood. Of the four launchers of our air defense systems recorded by the Israelis in Syria, at least three are in a state of full combat readiness, pointing into the sky the missiles prepared for launch. What about the fourth is not clear, since it is carefully covered with camouflage nets. But perhaps it’s better not to risk it ... The author of the article honestly admits that even the S-200, which is considered today to be “the day before yesterday”, posed a “serious problem” for Israeli aviation. And the next generation of these systems, the S-300 PMU-2, is, according to the publication, "a serious threat to the Israeli air force at a tactical level."
A very timely insight! Posing the question: “Why did the Russians wait so long?”, The author comes to a very reasonable conclusion - Tel Aviv simply requested that these air defense systems be put into action. On this occasion, the words of the Minister of Defense of Russia Sergey Shoigu are quoted as saying that the fact of their delivery to the territory of Syria should have “cooled off hot heads”. I didn’t chill ... The Israelis themselves crossed the “red line” - with their unprecedented insolence and scale air raid on January 21 and the subsequent boast of their destruction of the “Shell” in the process. Well, as they say - for what they fought, they ran into something. Episkopos believes that if earlier “the Russians were in no hurry to deploy the S-300, not wanting excessive escalation”, then after the “last drop” that followed on January 21, “Moscow threw off strategic prudence” and the air defense systems were put on full alert.
An even more unpleasant prospect for the Israeli military is the final transfer of the S-300 PMU-2 to the Syrian military. The point is not at all in the “learning problems” - all that is needed is that they have probably already worked out to automatism and know it by heart. It’s just that the Syrians are unlikely to show the same miracles of endurance and patience that the Russians - at the very first attempt to “try for strength” the Syrian sky again, IDF pilots risk in their own skin to learn about the effectiveness of the complex, which can hit up to 36 targets at a distance of 200 kilometers . Their usual maneuvers with firing missiles “from far away” here may not be able to save.
It is impossible not to disagree with the conclusions and forecasts set forth in The National Interest. If only because they are fully confirmed by the actions and words of our diplomats at the highest levels. A completely different publication - The Jerusalem Post gives some details of the visit hastily made to Tel Aviv by Sergey Vershinin, Deputy Foreign Minister of Russia and Special Representative of the President of Russia to resolve the situation in Syria Alexander Lavrentiev. Details of the conversation that took place “in hot pursuit” of the tragic night of January 28, of course, are not given, however, it is understood that the conversation was difficult for the Israeli authorities.
Our representatives made an unambiguous statement: any attacks on the land of Syria, which is a sovereign state, are unacceptable. And indeed, any actions in this territory that go beyond the clearly defined framework of anti-terrorist operations should be stopped once and for all.
Moreover - obviously, for a very specific understanding, Vershinin specified that "Moscow will not turn a blind eye" to specifically Israeli attacks. The fact that in Tel Aviv these words (it is quite possible that some others ...) were taken more than seriously, is indicated by the complete cessation of the Israeli Air Force’s combat activity on Syrian territory. Well, it remains to make perhaps the last conclusion: Russian diplomacy is a powerful thing! Especially when it is supported by missiles.
The American portal The National Interest, in truth, is impossible to even suspect of sympathy for Russia, its army and military-industrial complex - they are periodically posted there not only derogatory, but directly boorish materials. However, an article of a completely different kind was recently published there. Its author, Mark Episkopos, is forced to make an unambiguous conclusion: IDF pilots no longer risk flying over Syria “like at home,” and even bombard any targets on its territory at their own discretion with bombs and missiles. And the reason for this has an unambiguous and short name: S-300. The Israelis had a clear awareness of the sad fact: the next flight is likely to be the last. The Russians no longer intend to tolerate their air terrorism.
As a confirmation of this thesis, NI publishes photographs taken with the help of the Israeli tracking satellite Eros-B and which led IDF analysts to the most nasty mood. Of the four launchers of our air defense systems recorded by the Israelis in Syria, at least three are in a state of full combat readiness, pointing into the sky the missiles prepared for launch. What about the fourth is not clear, since it is carefully covered with camouflage nets. But perhaps it’s better not to risk it ... The author of the article honestly admits that even the S-200, which is considered today to be “the day before yesterday”, posed a “serious problem” for Israeli aviation. And the next generation of these systems, the S-300 PMU-2, is, according to the publication, "a serious threat to the Israeli air force at a tactical level."
A very timely insight! Posing the question: “Why did the Russians wait so long?”, The author comes to a very reasonable conclusion - Tel Aviv simply requested that these air defense systems be put into action. On this occasion, the words of the Minister of Defense of Russia Sergey Shoigu are quoted as saying that the fact of their delivery to the territory of Syria should have “cooled off hot heads”. I didn’t chill ... The Israelis themselves crossed the “red line” - with their unprecedented insolence and scale air raid on January 21 and the subsequent boast of their destruction of the “Shell” in the process. Well, as they say - for what they fought, they ran into something. Episkopos believes that if earlier “the Russians were in no hurry to deploy the S-300, not wanting excessive escalation”, then after the “last drop” that followed on January 21, “Moscow threw off strategic prudence” and the air defense systems were put on full alert.
An even more unpleasant prospect for the Israeli military is the final transfer of the S-300 PMU-2 to the Syrian military. The point is not at all in the “learning problems” - all that is needed is that they have probably already worked out to automatism and know it by heart. It’s just that the Syrians are unlikely to show the same miracles of endurance and patience that the Russians - at the very first attempt to “try for strength” the Syrian sky again, IDF pilots risk in their own skin to learn about the effectiveness of the complex, which can hit up to 36 targets at a distance of 200 kilometers . Their usual maneuvers with firing missiles “from far away” here may not be able to save.
It is impossible not to disagree with the conclusions and forecasts set forth in The National Interest. If only because they are fully confirmed by the actions and words of our diplomats at the highest levels. A completely different publication - The Jerusalem Post gives some details of the visit hastily made to Tel Aviv by Sergey Vershinin, Deputy Foreign Minister of Russia and Special Representative of the President of Russia to resolve the situation in Syria Alexander Lavrentiev. Details of the conversation that took place “in hot pursuit” of the tragic night of January 28, of course, are not given, however, it is understood that the conversation was difficult for the Israeli authorities.
Our representatives made an unambiguous statement: any attacks on the land of Syria, which is a sovereign state, are unacceptable. And indeed, any actions in this territory that go beyond the clearly defined framework of anti-terrorist operations should be stopped once and for all.
Moreover - obviously, for a very specific understanding, Vershinin specified that "Moscow will not turn a blind eye" to specifically Israeli attacks. The fact that in Tel Aviv these words (it is quite possible that some others ...) were taken more than seriously, is indicated by the complete cessation of the Israeli Air Force’s combat activity on Syrian territory. Well, it remains to make perhaps the last conclusion: Russian diplomacy is a powerful thing! Especially when it is supported by missiles.
Information