Russia's electronic warfare system in Syria will track planes in Europe and Israel

Russian electronic warfare systems in Syria needed to be strengthened in order to track planes in the region and beyond, after a Russian military plane was shot down off the Syrian coast.

Moscow holds Israel responsible for the loss of its Il-20 surveillance aircraft last week after Syrian anti-aircraft defenses struck it accidentally while responding to a surprise Israeli air strike in the coastal province of Latakia. Israel has accused Iran of establishing bases in Syria and has pledged to continue targeting alleged Iranian positions.

Vladimir Mikheyev, first deputy director of the Russian company Radio-Electronic Technologies, told the official media that Moscow was seeking to improve its ability to monitor the Syrian skies.

"Systems capable of fighting against precision weapons – guided bombs and missiles that may be used by the same Israel, which has already declared that it would continue to target objects in the region – will be added to the systems of Conventional radar protection, "Mikheyev told the Russian news agency Tass. "In addition, systems and facilities will be put in place to block all systems and controls of aircraft and ship clusters.

"We will not only know that someone has entered the airspace of this region, but also that somewhere a plane only works on the runway, whether in Israel or Saudi Arabia or even in Europe, "continued Mikheyev.

An F-16C, belonging to the Israeli Air Force, takes off during the multinational exercise of air defense "Blue Flag" at Ovda Air Base, north of the Israeli city of Eilat, November 8, 2017. The Israeli F-16s were involved in an air raid against Syria, which fired back by an anti-aircraft fire that accidentally shot down an Allied Russian surveillance aircraft Il-20 . JACK GUEZ / AFP / Getty Images

The system assigns a target number to the aircraft and then offers several options, "either radio recognition, mitigation or electronic suppression, or even, if we see that the situation is critical, a fire," according to Mikheyev. He also told RIA Novosti that Russia was seeking to strengthen its air defenses, possibly by installing smoke shields that could make them invisible to enemy missiles of all ranges.

These measures all follow the incident Il-20, which exacerbated international tensions over the war in Syria. Russia has accused Israel of deliberately using Il-20 to cover the Israeli F-16s who bombed an alleged weapons depot in Latakia, and Moscow has promised to deliver anti-aircraft systems. S-300 to the Syrian armed forces. Russian systems currently used, as well as electronic jamming equipment over the next two weeks – the same period in which Mikheyev announced the arrival of the electronic warfare system. On Friday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that the delivery process of the S-300 had already begun.

News of the Syrian army wielding its S-300 alarmed Israel and the United States, which both supported the 2011 rebel and jihadist uprising against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, whose support for Russia and Iran allowed him to resume most of the torn country war. The United States has also targeted Syrian government sites twice, the most recent in April and receiving support from the British and French, in response to allegations of chemical weapons attacks.

Since Russia announced the transfer of the ground-to-air missile system, Syrian and Iranian officials warned Israel not to continue the strikes, while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he would not be deterred .

A map shows control areas in northwestern Syria, where the assassination of Il-20 prompted Russia to strengthen local defenses in Israeli vows to pursue action against Iran and Western threats of military intervention. Institute for the Study of War / Reuters

While the United States and its Western allies focused mainly on the ISIS group, they threatened to take further military action against Syria if armed forces and partners threatened civilians in an operation aimed at take back the province of Idlib. . This area is the last to be held by an Islamist-led insurgency against Assad, and just hours before last week's Israeli attack, Turkey and Russia announced an agreement that would prevent a total campaign in that country.

The agreement stipulates that all jihadists must leave a demilitarization zone of nine to 12 miles and that all heavy weapons must be withdrawn by mid-October. At the same time, the Syrian army and the Syrian democratic forces, supported by the US, a predominantly Kurdish group, are fighting against the remnants of the Islamic State on separate fronts.

This article has been updated to reflect a recent statement by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, who said that the transfer of the S-300 to Syria had already begun.