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Russia says its strengthened air defense system in Syria can track aircraft on airfields in Europe and Israel.
After a Russian surveillance plane was accidentally shot down by a Syrian missile during an Israeli air raid on September 18, Russia pledged to reinforce its electronic warfare defenses in Syria.
"Russia will block satellite navigation, radar on board and communication systems of fighter jets, attacking targets in Syrian territory, in areas above the waters of the Mediterranean Sea bordering Syria", threatened the Minister of Defense, Sergei Shoigu.
The threat seemed to be aimed at Israel, whom Russia accuses of having programmed its air strike to use the Il-20 aircraft as a cover. But the latest bragging seems to target America as well as Europe.
Vladimir Mikheyev, head of the Russian electronics consortium KRET, He told TASS that airborne jammers could supplement ground systems in Syria. "It is also planned to increase the naval task force with electronic warfare and air defense systems," Mikheyev said.
"And all this will be integrated into a common control system and we will know not only that someone has entered the airspace of this region, but also that a plane only works on the runway whether in Israel, Saudi Arabia or even Europe, and we understand that the integrated air defense system is under control, "he said.
Aircraft detected at an aerodrome will automatically be assigned a target number by the air defense system, which will provide operators with various options. "Either a radio-electronic recognition, a mitigation or an electronic suppression or even, if we see that the situation is critical, a fire to perform," said Mikheyev.
Russia's heavy investment in a set of electronic warfare systems has raised fears that in the event of war, Western equipment such as radars, radios, GPS and missile guidance systems could be blocked and rendered unusable.
Long range radar is not really a new phenomenon: US ballistic missile defense radar, like the BMEWS system, has a range of three thousand miles, while an advanced AWACS detection aircraft can spot aircraft flying at four hundred miles away.
But the long-range detection and jamming systems in Syria are particularly interesting, given that US airstrikes in Iraq and Syria were carried out by planes based in Italy and Turkey, while Saudi Arabia supported the rebels fighting the Syrian government and its Russian and Iranian allies. . Russia seems to say that it can monitor – and perhaps even block – Western, Saudi and Israeli planes even on their airfields.
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Russia has placed long-range anti-aircraft missiles S-400 – which can hit airplanes 250 miles away – on its bases in Syria. In retaliation for the Israeli strike of September 18, Russia also sends S-300 missiles – with a range of more than 100 miles – to the Syrian army. An integrated air defense system including long-range radar, jammers and long-range anti-aircraft missiles could be a powerful deterrent against Western, Saudi and Israeli strikes.
Michael Peck is a contributing author for the National interest . It can be found on Twitter and Facebook.
Image: Wikimedia Commons
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