On September 24, Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu announced that Russia will deliver an unspecified number of S-300 air defense systems to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s forces within the next two weeks. The decision follows a friendly fire air accident on September 17 during which Russian-supplied S-200s in Syria failed to discriminate a Russian reconnaissance...
On September 17, a Russian Ilyushin-20 reconnaissance plane was shot down off the coast of Latakia by a Syrian S-200 air defense system, killing all 15 crew members. Russia blamed the incident on Israel which was conducting an airstrike in the vicinity against targets associated with arms transfers to Lebanese Hezbollah and did not coordinate...
On September 15, Syrian military officials reported that several Israeli missiles were intercepted near the Damascus international airport. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights stated that the strike targeted an arms depot near the airport which was previously struck by Israeli surface-to-surface missiles and is associated with Iranian and Lebanese Hezbollah arms transfers. The SOHR...
On August 30, geospatial imaging and intelligence firm ImageSat International released aerial imagery of a suspected Iranian surface-to-surface missile (SSM) facility under construction outside Wadi Jahannam in northwestern Syria. Israeli media reports note that the facility bears resemblance to the Iranian Parchin missile factory which has been associated with Iran’s ballistic missile and nuclear programs....
On August 15, Israeli defense firm Israel Aerospace Industries announced in a press release that it has agreed to outfit the Israeli Navy’s Sa’ar-6 corvettes with the Barak-8 surface-to-air missile (SAM) system. IAI stated, “The systems will be used to protect Israel’s exclusive economic zone and strategic facilities which are faced with diversified threats in...
On July 24, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) fired two MIM-104 Patriot missiles at a Syrian Sukhoi fighter jet, shooting down the plane. The aircraft “traveled two kilometers into Israeli airspace” from Syria, according to The Times of Israel. On July 11 and July 13, Israeli fired Patriot missiles at Syrian UAVs flying near or...
On July 23, the Israeli Air Defense Command fired the David’s Sling theater-range missile defense system against two Syrian SS-21 Scarab missiles estimated to be directed at Israel. The air defense system originally calculated the terminal trajectory of the Syrian missiles to be inside Israeli territory and deployed two Stunner hit-to-kill interceptors. Some time into...
The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) has deployed more Iron Dome defense systems in central and southern Israel, according to an IDF announcement on June 15. The deployment follows significant clashes between Israel and Hamas militants over the past weekend. After Palestinian protests on Friday, during which an IDF officer was injured, Israeli Air Forces bombed Hamas...
On July 13, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) intercepted another Syrian UAV this week with an MIM-104 Patriot missile. The Times of Israel reported that the drone infringed on international law, since it “was flying inside the demilitarized zone between the two countries […], in what the army said was a violation of a 1974...
On July 11, an Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) news release stated that “a Syrian UAV entered Israeli territory and was intercepted by the Patriot missile above the Sea of Galilee.” According to The Times of Israel, the UAV had navigated through Jordan before flying 10 km into Israeli territory. Israeli forces had also fired an MIM-104 Patriot...
