Hmmm... Russia suspending S-300, MiG29 delivery to Syria
Claiming they haven't been paid, Russia is
suspending delivery of the S-300 anti-missile system and of new, modern MiG29M/M2 fighter jets to Syria.
Russia has suspended the delivery of S-300 missile systems to Syria,
Russian President Vladimir Putin confirmed in an interview on Wednesday,
AFP reported.
Over the weekend, Russian newspaper Kommersant reported the shipping of the S-300 missile systems, that were expected to be delivered by
July 2014, have been delayed until 2015-2016 because Damascus has failed to provide payment for them.
“Supplies
of S-300 are out of question until we see real money,” an unnamed
source at the Russian military-industrial cooperation complex told Kommersant.
Putin
told Russia's First Channel that some components of the S-300 systems
were delivered to Syria, but that the rest would be delayed until Syrian
President Bashar Assad's regime pays for them.
Additionally,
a shipment of twelve MiG-29M/M2 jets ordered in 2007, six of which were
due to be delivered to Syria by the end of the year, will not be
supplied before 2016-2017 because Damascus has only paid Moscow 30
percent of the agreed sum for the jets.
Hmmm.
Labels: MiG-29, Russia, Russian weapons, S-300 missile defense system, Syria
Syrian media publishes target list for Israel, Cyprus and... Turkey
Syrian media has published a
list of targets that Syria plans to hit in the event that the United States attacks Syria. The targets are in Israel, Cyprus and Turkey. There's just one small problem: Syria's air force is reported to be
on its last legs, and a US attack could be the end of it. This is from the first link.
Aerial photos of the purported targets were released by state
media, including strategic military positions in Israel, Turkey and
Cyprus, such as airports and chemical weapons factories.
Syrian officials have repeatedly threatened to target Israel in the event of a western strike.
Specific targets labeled as "legitimate" for Syrian missile strikes
included Israel's Dimona nuclear plant, petrochemical production plants
in Haifa, Hazor military airbase, the Palmachim, Zala'im and
Tzrifin military bases, Kalandia airport, and military and intelligence
facilities in Turkey and Cyprus.
Kalandia Airport (also known as Atarot) hasn't functioned since 2000, when 'Palestinian' rioters destroyed it.
But there may not be
much left of the Syrian air force with which to hit these targets.
While there has been widespread scepticism from military sources over
the effect of the suggested air strikes, former Syrian military
officers and some analysts believe even limited strikes might cause
significant damage.
The view was shared by a report last week from
the Rand Corporation thinktank, Options for Airpower in Syria. It
argued that neutralising Syria's air defences and severely damaging its
air force were likely to be much easier than some pessimists suggested.
Although
it argued that "negating Syrian air power would have only a marginal
direct effect on civilian casualties, which have mostly been caused by
ground forces", it said this "could significantly assist Syrian
opposition forces by denying air support and especially air mobility and
resupply to the Syrian army".
The report was far more sceptical
about the ability of US cruise missile strikes to knock out Bashar
al-Assad's chemical capability. "The practical options for doing so have
serious limitations, and attempting it could actually make things
worse. Locating all Syrian chemical weapon facilities and defining them
well enough to design effective conventional air strikes against them
would require very precise and detailed intelligence."
...
While the Syrian air force has been described as being on "its last
legs", with crews cannibalising aircraft to keep planes in the air,
other factors are likely to be problematic for the regime.
"They
have been moving people out of security compounds," the defector said,
repeating the claim made by others that prisoners and civilians had been
moved into the vacated bases.
"But there are other locations that they can't evacuate. They rely on holding the big bases like Mezze. They can't abandon them.
"They will have to keep their forces manning the main supply routes and that makes them vulnerable to attack.
"I
served at Mezze. The bunkers for personnel are not very good. We used
to nickname them the graves and talk about how – in a crisis – we'd
rather take our chances in the open than get buried in them."
He
said he did not believe that the shelters available for hiding aircraft
were well enough hardened to sustain a hit from a cruise missile. "There
are no underground bunkers. The hangars we have in the open are
reinforced but no match for modern weapons."
The detailed
depiction of Syrian military resilience painted a picture of largely
antiquated equipment, difficulties in moving supplies and a vulnerable
communications network.
...
"In addition the aircraft that the regime does have available are old.
Many of the newest operating are from the 1990s. There are places where
there should be six jets operating but they can only fly two. Our
sources tell us they have only 60 pilots available and 40 helicopter
crews. But because the opposition doesn't have aircraft that is still a
big advantage. Any damage to these aircraft would cause severe damage to
the regime's capability.
It sounds like Obama's going to get his chance to be a hero after all. But it's far more likely that he'll be out on the golf course when it happens.
Labels: Barack Hussein Obama, Bashar al-Assad, chemical weapons, Free Syrian Army, MiG-29, Syria, Syrian air space
Russia to provide Syria 10 MiG-29's; Netanyahu warns Putin
Russian sources say that their country will
provide Syria with 10 MiG-29 fighter planes. The timing of the delivery was not disclosed. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Netanyahu warned Russian President Vladimir Putin that Israel will stop the Russians from setting up the S-300 missile defense system in Syria.
On Friday, journalist Ali Branstien reported in Hebrew daily Ma'ariv that
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu hinted in his meeting earlier this
month with Russian President Vladimir Putin that Israel will prevent the
Assad regime of making the S-300 missiles operational.
The paper
reported the Russians were "shocked" from the prime minister's
"boldness." Sources that were briefed on the meeting told Ma'ariv that
Putin had "understood exactly what Netanyahu meant," and that "it came
as no surprise to Moscow" when National Security Adviser Yaakov Amidror
warned European diplomats Israel might take such an action.
Well, at least there's still someone left in the world who doesn't kiss up to the Russians....
By the way, the MiG-29 is not the most recent edition of the fighter jet.
Labels: MiG-29, Russia, S-300 missile defense system, Syria
