Daryl Hunt
Your Worst Nightmare
- Banned
- #1
Russia’s Air Defenses In Syria Have Some Big Problems
In late September 2017, satellite photographs indicated that Russia had deployed a second Russian SA-21 surface-to-air missile system in Syria.
Purportedly, the system in question is deployed high in the mountains near Masyaf, fewer than 40 kilometers southeast of Lattakia, and right next to a battery of Bastion-P systems equipped with Oniks cruise missiles.
For many of foreign observers, this is an indication of the Russians bolstering their presence in Syria, perhaps even directly threatening operations of U.S. and allied aircraft against Islamic State extremists.
Actually, a closer look at the satellite photographs in question – to say nothing of the history of Russian SAM deployments in Syria since 2015 – reveals multiple shortcomings of the equipment in question, and mistakes by the Russians in the course of their military intervention in the country.
In late September 2017, satellite photographs indicated that Russia had deployed a second Russian SA-21 surface-to-air missile system in Syria.
Purportedly, the system in question is deployed high in the mountains near Masyaf, fewer than 40 kilometers southeast of Lattakia, and right next to a battery of Bastion-P systems equipped with Oniks cruise missiles.
For many of foreign observers, this is an indication of the Russians bolstering their presence in Syria, perhaps even directly threatening operations of U.S. and allied aircraft against Islamic State extremists.
Actually, a closer look at the satellite photographs in question – to say nothing of the history of Russian SAM deployments in Syria since 2015 – reveals multiple shortcomings of the equipment in question, and mistakes by the Russians in the course of their military intervention in the country.