Israeli F-35s, not only entered the Syrian airspace, but also flew for almost several hundred kilometers over the area covered by Russian S-400 and S-300 air defense systems.
Russian S-300 and S-400 air defense systems are unable to detect Israeli Air Force (IAF) F-35 Lightning II stealth fighters flying over Damascus.
The Israeli news outlet NZIV, citing a number of military sources, published the flight route of the Israeli stealth fighters, that struck eastern Syria. As it turned out, the IAF F-35s, not only entered the Syrian airspace, but also flew for almost several hundred kilometers over the area covered by Russian S-400 and Syrian S-300 air defense systems.
Noteworthy also Russian fighters didn’t attempt to intercept Israel’s F-35s. This may suggest that Russian stealth detection systems failed or did not work properly.
According to NZIV another strike carried out by IAF aircraft puts in question the effectiveness of Russian air and missile defense systems since two other Israeli warplanes were able to enter the Syrian air space without any hindrance. Given the fact that Russia had previously warned Netanyahu of its readiness to respond adequately, it seems that the Russian air defense systems simply did not notice the Israeli warplanes.
As recently reported by Avia.pro, that cited an anonymous source, Russia has allowed Syria to use the S-300 missile defense system against Israeli warplanes.
In spite of previously reached agreements between Russia and Israel and because of the recent ramping up of Israeli strikes on Syrian territory, the source claimed that the Syrian military received permission to use its air defense systems in the event of the slightest threat from Israel, provided that the Syrian side bears responsibility for such actions.
“Russia allowed the Syrian military to bring the S-300 to full combat readiness and attack Israeli aircraft in the event of the slightest threat,” the source said.
Information regarding this appeared a day after Israeli F-35 fighter jets struck targets in Syria, completely ignoring Moscow’s position on the issue.
According to South Front that cites some reports, before the end of this month, the Syrian Arab Army may receive the BAVAR-373 Iranian air defense system. As we have previously reported, Iran claims that the system is allegedly capable of detecting stealth targets, potentially including the Israeli F-35 fighter jets and the US F-22 air superiority fighters, at distances up to 150-180 kilometers.
IAF has ramped up its airstrikes on Syrian territory in recent weeks, allegedly targeting Iranian facilities and personnel.
On Sep. 17, 2019 Israel struck positions at the Iraqi-Syrian border near al-Qa’im and al-Bukamal, the second strike within a month on the same allegedly Iranian military base.
The same location was targeted by IAF warplanes on Sep. 8.
After the most recent strike there were no reports of casualties but the Sep. 8 one allegedly killed several service members.
On the very next day, Israel Defense Forces (IDF) claimed that Iranian-backed militants had launched attacks on the country from within Syria, potentially being the reason for the strike on al-Bukamal.
Photo credit: Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation and Israeli Air Force
