WASHINGTON — Israel has determined that the Iranian-sponsored Hizbullah received an advanced Russian cruise missile.
Israeli sources said Hizbullah acquired the Russian-origin P-800 coastal defense system in 2013. The sources said components of the system were transferred to Hizbullah headquarters in Lebanon by the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad, which received the anti-ship cruise missiles two years earlier.
“They don’t have the entire system, but they soon might have complete missiles,” a source said.
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“To make it lethal, a system needs to be complete,” a senior U.S. defense official told the Wall Street Journal on Jan. 2.
Yakhont, launched by mobile vehicles, was said to be one of the most advanced anti-ship cruise missiles. The radar-guided weapon, with a speed of Mach 2, contained a range of 300 kilometers, sufficient to threaten shipping along the Israeli coast.
“But beyond range, it’s the radar guidance that has IDF planners worried,” the Journal said.
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“Hizbullah and Syria are continually being strengthened, and once a week a Russian ship unloads weapons in Syrian ports,” a senior Israel Navy officer told the Ynet website.
Full article: U.S. intel: Hizbullah receiving Russian cruise missiles via Syria (World Tribune)
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