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Israel Confronts Russian-Made Air Defense Systems in Syria

(Ynet News) Yossi Yehoshua - While the Russians claimed that Israel had warned them only one minute before the Israeli attack in Syria that led to the downing of a Russian plane by Syrian anti-aircraft fire, in reality it was 12 minutes, and according to the Russians themselves, the plane was hit 25 minutes after the Israeli warning was received. Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov said last week that the transfer of the S-300 anti-aircraft missile system to Syria has already started. However, the Syrians still do not know how to operate the system. As we have seen, especially during the downing of the Russian plane, the skill level of the Syrian army is amateurish at best, and they are liable to endanger not only Russian and American aircraft but civilian ones as well. Thus, the Russians might be the ones operating the system until the Syrians are ready. The IDF assesses that the probability of Russian soldiers shooting missiles at Israeli aircraft is quite low. Meanwhile, Israeli policy in Syria targeting shipments of weapons is not expected to change.
2018-10-02 00:00:00
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