Russia declares electronic war on Israel ranging over Syria, E. Mediterranean

 

Within two weeks, Russia will arm Syria with S-300 air defense systems and start jamming navigation in the E. Mediterranean – two of the three measures announced by Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu in Moscow on Monday, Sept. 24 “in response to Israel’s role in downing the Russian IL-20” on Sept. 17.

Syria’s air defense electronic capacities will be boosted to level that of Russian forces in the country. But the most significant measure announced by Shoigu was: “Russia will jam satellite navigation, on-board radars and communication systems of combat aircraft, which attack targets in the Syrian territory, in the regions over the waters of the Mediterranean Sea bordering with Syria.”

IDF and Russian army on collision course in Syria

 

The Russian Ministry of Defense leveled several grave charges against Israel on Sunday, Sept. 23 as having caused the loss of the Russian IL-20 plane with 15 servicemen aboard. IDF sources responded that the Russians are hiding their own military lapses with “lies” against Israel over the downing of the Russian plane by Syrian air defenses on Sept. 17.

DEBKAfile: This exchange of insults is not helpful in the light of reports from a Kremlin source that President Vladimir Putin has decided not to let the negative MoD report mar his friendly ties with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, and to let its aspersions remain in the “professional” domain. (i.e. versus the IDF and IAF).

Israel expects to retain air dominance with arrival of F-35s

While the F-35 may be able to evade S-300 missile defense systems, it’s said not to be able to evade the S-400. There is also an S-500 in development (See also HERE, HERE and HERE) by Russia.

 

F-35 Lightning II Adir. / Lockheed Martin

 

Israel expects to have total air dominance in the Middle East for the next four decades with the arrival on Dec. 12 of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter.

“The future is here,” Israeli Air Force (IAF) Chief of Staff Brig.-Gen. Tal Kalman said, adding that “the F-35 will allow the air force to do missions that its current aircraft are unable to do today. In quantity and quality, depth into enemy territory, in threat-filled areas, in the amount of missions, with less manpower.”

Israel Air Force officer: ‘Syria’s the global stage, everybody’s playing there’

This is likely the very first time it’s been reported that Russia is launching ballistic missiles into Syria from its own territory. Using war as a playground for new toys is not new, however.

 

An Israeli F-16I fighter jet during an exercise in the United States in 2009. (Master Sgt. Kevin J. Gruenwald/US Department of Defense/Wikimedia)

 

 

Senior official gives military’s view of Syrian civil war, and how Israeli jets navigate the dangerously full skies next door

For years, Israel was without rival in the skies over the Middle East, but with the Russian military placing an advanced anti-aircraft system — the S-400 — in Syria, that dynamic has changed and turned the once open skies into a far more difficult space to navigate, according to a senior Israeli Air Force official.

“We’re living in interesting times,” the officer told reporters Sunday night, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Iranian Report: Assad Forces, Hezbollah Coordinating Large-Scale Operation on Israel Border in Golan Heights

The Syrian army and Lebanon-based Iranian proxy terrorist organization Hezbollah are coordinating a large-scale “anti-terrorism” operation in southern Syria, near the border with Israel in the Golan Heights, the semi-official Iranian news agency Fars reported on Monday.

According to the report, the purpose of the operation is to “end militancy” in the area adjacent to the border.

India increases military posture along border with China

The Indian Air Force (IAF) inaugurated its new Pasighat advanced landing ground (ALG) on 19 August by landing a Sukhoi Su-30MKI multirole fighter there.

Report: Iran Receives First S-300 Missile Shipment From Russia

Iran has received its first shipment of missiles for the sophisticated S-300 air defense system, the Iranian Tasnim media outlet reported Monday.

Russia is supplying Iran with the advanced S-300 PMU2 system rather than the PMU1 system–information that was previously withheld. Moscow began in April delivering the S-300 missile defense system to Tehran, which displayed part of it in a military parade held to mark National Army Day on April 17.

Could Israeli F-35s turn the tables on Iranian S-300 missiles?

Over the long years of its development, the F-35 fighter jet has been pummeled from every angle. What haven’t we heard: It’s overweight and underpowered; it’s a single engine when it should be a twin; its engine may suffer from a serious design and structural problem; its wings are too short, its stealth capacity too tenuous, its cost too prohibitive.

But as Russia seeks to increase its influence in the region, shopping around its cutting edge air-defense weaponry — notably including the S-300 missile-defense system, which President Vladimir Putin has promised to deliver to Iran in the wake of the nuclear framework agreement reached earlier this month — the Israeli Air Force is flying to the F-35’s defense. In a recent interview with The Times of Israel, conducted prior to the Russian announcement, the IAF’s point man for the acquisition and integration of the F-35, who has been immersed in the project since 2005, robustly backed the purchase and put it into historical perspective, noting that every leap forward has faced a near wall of opposition at the onset.

Israel threatens Hamas with massive retaliation as cease-fire enters final day

Netanyahu told his cabinet ministers that Hamas was mistaken if it thought that it could cover its military defeat over the last month with a diplomatic achievement.

A day before the midnight expiration of a five-day ceasefire, Israel sent out clear messages on Sunday that it will respond massively to any type of fire from Gaza and not tolerate a long-term “war of attrition.”

“It is not clear whether there will be an agreement,” a senior diplomatic official said as the Israeli and Palestinian delegations held indirect talks in Cairo.

If no agreement is agreed upon, the official said, there are two possibilities. The first is that no cease-fire extension or agreement is reached by Monday at midnight, and Hamas renews its firing. “If that happens,” he said, “Israel’s response will be strong.”

IAF strikes nine military targets in Syria

Israel says direct hits confirmed on Assad army positions; attack comes in response to cross border assault Sunday which killed 15-year-old boy in Golan Heights

The Israeli Air Force launched retaliatory air strikes on the Syrian side of the Golan Heights overnight Sunday, confirming direct hits on nine army positions belonging to the Assad regime — including a regional command center – after a 15-year-old boy was killed earlier Sunday in an attack on the Israeli side.

Gantz: IDF gets set to target 50,000 Al Qaeda fighters piling up around Israel in Syria and Iraq

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz’s cryptic remark Monday, June 6, that “The Israeli Air Force will next month dramatically change its mode of operation,” meant that a decision has been taken to start directing the IAF’s fire power against military and terrorist targets in the Syrian and Iraqi arenas – in particular the al Qaeda forces foregathering ever closer to Israel’s borders with Syria, Iraq and Jordan. By aerial fire power, the general meant not just warplanes but also Israel’s long-range unmanned aerial vehicles and helicopters.

He was lecturing to the Herzliya meeting of the Interdisciplinary Center’s policy and strategy institute.

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Asked what he meant by “a dramatic change in the IAF’s mode of operations,” Gen. Gantz replied: A different kind of enemy is at our door. It is “more mobile, better at concealment and comes from farther away.”

Israeli launches spy satellite after US refusal to push for Iran’s weapons program’s dismantlement

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu decided not to delay the launch of Israel’s improved Ofek 10 spy satellite Wednesday night April 9, hours after the six powers and Iran wound up another round of talks in Vienna on comprehensive accord on its nuclear program. Israel decided to show some muscle over the Obama administration’s consent to raise Iran’s weapons program at the next round of nuclear negotiations next month, debkafile‘s Washington and Jerusalem sources report. But this assurance, relayed also to the Saudi government, was not accompanied by information on the points to be raised, or the US response if Tehran continued to maintain that its weapons program is non-existent and therefore not up for negotiation with the world powers.

IDF deploys sixth Iron Dome battery

Newest missile-defense cannon first to be manned solely by reserves soldiers; six more Iron Domes planned

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The newest battery is the first to be operated solely by reserves soldiers and is part of a plan to introduce further reserves “one after another,” according to Col. Zvika Haimovitch, the commander of the IAF’s Aerial Defense Division’s Active Defense Wing.

India to deploy 50,000 additional troops along China border

NEW DELHI: Boosting Army’s war fighting capabilities along the line of actual control (LAC), the government on Wednesday has given the go ahead to the creation of a corps including deployment of 50,000 additional troops along the China border at a cost of around Rs 65,000 crore.

The Cabinet committee on security headed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh cleared the proposal in its meeting, sources told PTI.

IAF Chief: S-300 is En Route to Syria; Surprise War is Possible

IAF Commander Eshel says IAF can deal with all weapon systems. “The question is only — at what cost.”

IAF Commander, Major General Amir Eshel, spoke Wednesday about the IAF’s preparedness for a surprise war scenario with Syria, and said that the S-300 anti-aircraft system is on its way to Syria.