Is Russia’s S-300 delivery to Syria a game-changer?
Russia's deployment of S-300 missile defense systems to Syria has both political and military significance, but might not necessarily change the overall balance of forces with regard to Israel.
MOSCOW — Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu informed President Vladimir Putin on Oct. 2 that the Russian army had completed supplying the S-300 missile defense system to Syria. The move is intended to boost security for Russian forces in the country following the downing of an Ilyushin-20 reconnaissance plane over the Mediterranean by Syria's air defense system stemming from what Moscow calls an Israeli provocation.
Shoigu said in a televised statement, “[The installation] includes 49 units of equipment. We have also significantly improved our radio electronic jamming, added some new additional equipment. Today we are in control of the close-in zone of 50 kilometers [31 miles], we also control the far field, the main direction from which we approached the Syrian territory by 200 kilometers. As for the unified air defense control system, we’ve also started supplying [necessary] equipment and are planning to finish all the activities associated with training of the crew and knitting a unified system by Oct. 20.”
